Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

Text from Pages 1 - 108 of the 1927 volume:

WISE-ACRES .1927 OStur fanla tbrir galb aub kttatins thrir pmnrr, iErt fortunr’fl bubble risr anb fall, JBJjn fiauia a fu'lb nr trains a flnwrr (Or plants a tm, Ifl mnrp tljan all. Volume XI PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE AMBLER, PENNSYLVANIA Entered ns second-class matter at the Ambler, Pa., Post Office. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1927 W ise-oA cres School of Horticulture Eo ffira. dJauu'H $htab-®nuun 0o ute atfrrtionatelij brbiratr ®l|is, our first tjrar-book; As a tribute (Ho our mbo Ijas ntabr of Amblrr A garbrtt of plrasattt tljougljts aub Itapiuj mrmorirs 3flor titosr utlio to its oututg firlbs Ijaur route (Eo srarrlr tljr Hook of Katurr. Five Wise-oAcres The Staff Editor—Edith M. Dornbirer Business Manager Anne B. Wkrtsner Photography Manager—Martha B. Chadwick Associate Editor—Helen Mowry We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to the following: Mrs. Bush-Brown for the generous and hearty co-operation which she has given us at all times; Mr. Bush-Brown for assistance in photography; Miss Bertermann for assistance in the advertising department; Miss De Zouche and Miss Jelinek for typing numerous letters and articles; Miss Nagy lor assistance in proofreading: Miss Borst for the selection of quotations, and some of the Senior write-ups. This is our first year book. May we ask. therefore, that you recommend it to your friends should you find it interesting? Furthermore, it will mean much to us if, when patronizing our advertisers, you will mention Wise Acres. Table of Contents A Ten-Dollar-Gold-Piece Garden.............................................. 20 Tail-Feathers and Temperaments.............................................. 23 Something About Delphiniums .................................................25 A Different Objective ...................................................... 30 Insect Friends and Foes .................................................... 34 A Woodland Path............................................................. 37 Would You Like an Herb Garden?.............................................. 44 Colour in the Garden........................................................ 47 Charles Linnaeus............................................................ 50 Annuals ................................................................... 52 The Care of the Small Orchard .............................................. 55 The Care and Arrangement of Cut Flowers..................................... 57 A Hive for the Honey Bee.................................................... 60 Wood, a Farm Crop .......................................................... 63 Our Dairy Herd ............................................................. 66 The Need for Trees Along American Highways.................................. 68 The Rock Garden ............................................................ 71 Our Poultry................................................................. 74 Lupins ..................................................................... 76 Human Traits in Trees ...................................................... 77 Iris ....................................................................... 79 The Rose Garden ............................................................ 82 Simple Methods of Determining the Productivity of Some Garden Soils and Their Adaptations ........................................................... 85 Horticulture—A Profitable Occupation for Women.............................. 87 A School of Horticulture.................................................... 91 Six W ise-oA cres The Faculty LOUISE CARTER BUSHBROWN Graduate of Horace Mann School, Teacher's College, New York City; Graduate of School of Horticulture for Women; Special course in Agriculture, George Peabody College, Nashvillci, Tenn. Positions—Teacher of Floriculture, Concord School for Girls, Concord, Mass., 1916' 1917; Field Secretary, School of Horticulture, 1918; Instructor in Gardening, George Peabody Cob lege, Nashville, Tenn., 1919 1920; Superintend' ent of Water Oak Plantation, Tallahassee, Florida, 1920' 192 3; State Garden and Dairy Specialist for the State of Florida under the United States Government Extension Service, 192 3 'March, 1924; Director of the School of Horticulture, March, 1924' L. K. HERRING Two'year diploma course at the Horticultural College, Swanley, Kent. National Diploma in Horticulture, Royal Horticultural Society; B.Sc. in Horticulture, London University. Positions—Assistant posts in private gardens for two years after leaving college; Jobbing gardening advisory work in London suburbs. Charge of the four'acre vegetable garden at the Horticultural College, Swanley, Kent, giv' ing students lectures and practical instruction in vegetable growing. Head gardner at St. Leonard's School, Scotland, with charge of six' teen acres of playing fields, vegetable field, flower garden, giving instruction in gardening to the girls. Instructor in Horticulture at Lee House, Devonshire, a small training center for gardening, poultry keeping and farming; In' structor in Horticulture, School of Horticulture, Ambler, Pa., 1925' Eight School of Horticulture G. S. HENDERSON Two years at Edinburgh School of Gardening and two years at the Edinburgh and East Scot' land College of Agriculture. Subjects: Horti' culture. Chemistry, Botany, Entomology, For' estry, Mensuration and Land Surveying, and Horticultural Bookkeeping. Positions—Assistant Jobbing Gardener in London; Teacher of Gardening in the Flower and Vegetable Departments at Swanley Horti' cultural College, Kent; Teacher of Gardening at Darlington Training College, County Dur' ham, England. The students at Durham were training to be teachers in elementary schools in different parts of England. Those interested in country schools took a gardening course for which Miss Henderson was responsible. Assist' ant Instructor in Horticulture, School of Horti' culture, Ambler, Pa., 1926' GEORGE B. KAISER Graduate Franklin School, Germantown; University of Pennsylvania. Positions—Secretary, Botanical Society of Pennsylvania; Professor of Botany at Wagner Free Institute of Science; .Curator of Moss Herbarium of the Sullivan Moss Society; Mem xr of Academy of Natural Sciences; Honorary Member of the Botanical Society of the Botani-cal Society of the University of Pennsylvania; Honorary Member of the Germantown Horticultural Society; Secretary of the Philadelphia Natural History Society; Treasurer of the Delaware Valley Naturalists' Union; Instructor in Botany and Woody Ornamentals at the School of Horticulture, Ambler, 1918' j ine W ise-oA cres FRANK a. schrepfer B.Sc., University of Illinois; two years, Har-vard School of Landscape Architecture, M.S., University of Illinois; Special Biology, Univer-sity of Chicago; Special Work, Horticulture Summer Session, University of Southern California. Positions- Instructor in Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois; Instructor in Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania; Practicing Landscape Architect; Instructor in Landscape Architecture, School of Horticulture, Ambler, 1926- R. G. TEST Bachelor of Science, Rutgers College, 1917. Graduate Pomologist. Positions—Instructor in Horticulture at New York Institute of Applied Agriculture, Farrn-ingdale, Long Island; Bureau Plant Industry, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Potato Storage Diseases, one year; Instructor in Pomolgy, School of Horticulture, Ambler, Pa., 1926- Ten School of Horticulture CARROLL C. GRIMINGER Bachelor of Science, Cornell University; Edinboro, Pa., Normal School; New York State College for Teachers, Summer, 1919. Positions—Gardening Councillor and Di-rector. Girl Scout Camp, Rochester, N. Y., 1922' 1923; Gardener, Long Island Estate, Summer, 1924; Assistant in Flower Seed De' partment of Harris Seed Company, Coldwater, N. Y.; Teacher of Gardening, School of Horti' culture Summer School, 1925'1926. GEORGE H. WIRT Bachelor of English and Master of English, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa.; Bachelor of Forestry, Biltmore Forest School, Biltmore, N. C.; Course in Physical Geography, Univer' sity of Chicago; Microscopic Botany, University of Pennsylvania; Business Law and Accounting, Wharton School of Finance. Positions—Director and Instructor, PennsyL vania State Forest School, Mont Alto, Pa.; twenty-six years' experience in Pennsylvania State Forest Service; Instructor in Farm Forestry, School of Horticulture, Ambler, Pa., 1915- Eleven The Seniors F. A. Bertermann Frank ford. Philadelphia, Pcnna. To those who know her best. A friend most true and hearty.” Our bus driver, carpenter, mechanic- and they called her Florence! You will always find a hearty welcome in Beit's room, whether you are a lonely student in search of a cup of coffee, or a little dog that wants a puppy biscuit, or His Majesty, King Sandy, the Only. Formerly— Recreation work. Friends' Hospital for Nervous and Mental Diseases. Frankford. Philadelphia, Penna. After graduation—Salesman and draughtsman. American Forestry Service. Anna Elizabeth Brill Mcrion, Penna. A smile for all. a greeting glad. An amiable, jolly way she had. Anne is always happy—even when the Buick has to be jacked up during noon hour. Changing tires is just one of Anne's heavy accomplishments. She finds double digging easy and can swing an axe like Abe Lincoln. Nevertheless, we know she is a woman at heart because climbing ladders is not in her line at all and because many an intermission has found the dormitory enjoying one of her delicious cakes. Formerly -Student. Shipley School, Bryn Mawr. Alter graduation—Manager, flower shop. Martha B. Chadwick Harrisburg, Penna. Beautiful as sweet. And young as beautiful, and soft as young. And gay as soft, and innocent as gay! Marcic could stop a clock by just smiling. Even the bees appreciate her colour and beautiful complexion so much that they cannot leave her alone. Marcie's ruling passion is entomology and in this field we know she will be most successful. All who have known Marcic have loved her and when she leaves all will miss her. Even little Peter will have lost his ’’best girl.” Formerly—Student, Birmingham School. Birmingham. Penna. After graduation Advance work in entomology. T welve School of Horticulture Jesse T. Craven New York City Hard she labored, long, and well. When Till leaves Ambler two outstanding sources of entertainment will be lost to the school: the finest line of coon stories in captivity and a rich soprano voice made famous by “Seven Long Years in State’s Prison.” Till is of the type that does things without saying so much about it and the school will certainly miss her in the vegetable garden, the poultry plant, and at the cottage. Formerly—Assistant. Denver Public Library. Denver. Colo. After graduation— Frances Ely Hawkins Bronxville, N. Y. She is a maid of artless grace. Gentle of form, and fair of face. “Let me tell you a better one!” says Happy, and she does, whether you believe it or not—and you don’t, often. Mother Goose would get “all'of'a'twittcr, don’t you know,” if she wcie introduced to Happy’s nonsense rimes. Then there’s Nipper and a certain alhnight search—but Happy will tell you a better one. Formerly—Student, St. Mary's School. Peekskill. N. Y. After graduation—Home gardener. Mildred B. Hubbard Dover, N. H. She has a way that's all her own. “Moses! A name that makes you stop, look, and listen. “They call me Moses because I am so slow, Moses says, and we would add but sure.” What Moses docs, she does well. What Moses strives to accomplish, she accomplishes completely, even when that is a matter of playing bridge with young men. We remember Moses most for her cacti, each of which she knew so well and cared • for so tenderly that we suspect they sometimes shyly breathed their love and gratitude to her as she patiently brushed off mealy bugs. Formerly— High School Student. After graduation—Assistant. Right Nursery, Ambler, Pcnna. Thirteen W ise-oA cres Anne Jf.linek Baltimore, Md. Her secret of success is constancy of purpose.” Anchie stands at the head of her class in scholarship. Her mind is always in fine running order—except after a cup of black coffee. It has been reported that Mr. Kaiser's classes provide occasions for especially brilliant flashes. We arc expecting great things of you, Anchie, after graduation. Formerly—Secretary, Prague, Czechoslovakia. After graduation- Landscape gardener and student of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania. Helen Moxvry Emden, III. She is pretty to walk with. Witty to talk with. And pleasant, too. to think on!” Her looks can be so fierce, and her words can be so hard—it’s a shame she’s such a little thing. But she’s a dear little thing and we love her even when she jumps up and down like a Jack on a string or fights like her black cat, Izzy. Helen is interested in landscape design and knows her plant materials so well she could give Cicero a race for command of the Latin language. Formerly—Student. University of Illinois. After graduation- Landscape designer. Marion M. Peretti Newficld, N. J. A helping hand, always ready on demand.'' Johnny may be little but she surely is husky, and is always able to take care of herself. Marion puts her heart and soul into everything she does—even if it is just laughing. We know your sunny smile will get you somewhere, Johnny, and your industry will keep you there. Formerly—Student, Vineland, N. J.. High School. After graduation—Gardener on an estate. Fourteen School of Horticulture Nancy Stump Webster Aberdeen, Md. “Rare is the combination of beauty and modesty.” “First or not at all” is Nancy's motto for breakfast and that is why we cither don’t see her until chapel time or meet her coming back as we dash over to breakfast after the second bell. Nancy has been generous both with her car and of her own time and has saved many a student or faculty member a trip by taxi. Formerly Student. Mary A. Burnham School, Northampton. Mass. After graduation— Anne Beasley Wertsner Germantown, Philadelphia, Penna. “Bolddipped. rich tinted, mutable as the sea. The brown eyes radiant with vivacity. Anne can crowd more activtics into twelve hours than an ordinary mortal could accomplish in twenty-four, and yet she always comes up smiling, talking. Although Anne already has quite a number of offers for positions the class in woody ornamentals is hoping she will choose the nursery business, knowing that she already has a line collection of cuttings. Haverford seems to see lots of outstanding points in Anne but it is Pocono which holds her spellbound. Formerly—Student, Germantown High School. After graduation—Alpine rock gardening, Haughton Estate. Paoli, Penna. Fifteen UNDERGRADUATE GROUP Top row: Dornbirer. Rumpp, Hebbard, Woolston, Taylor. Wcnz, Smith. Middle row: Brautigam. Pollock. Epplc, Nagy, Douglass, Borst. Front row: Arrington. Lansing, Farley. School of Horticulture The Class Will THE Seniors being about to depart this life and enter another, possibly more fruitful but scarcely more pleasurable, have surveyed their possessions and decided to give away altruistically those which they esteem to be of most value to the be' nighted instructors and Juniors remaining to carry on the work of the school now that the mainstay and support, as it were, of that institution is to be so fatefully and inevitably removed. To proceed—it was set down as follows: Miss Florence Bertermann to Miss Elizabeth Lansing did give and bequeath, since it was evident that the latter young lady would never choose any line of horticultural endeavor as her life work, her potentialities in the circus business. Miss Jessie Craven to Miss Susan Arrington gives her wonderful control when working with animals and machinery (dictionary of obscure swear words furnished with this). Miss Anne Jelinek gives and bestows upon Miss Hollis Brautigam what gray matter she has beyond that required to pass her various examinations and emerge from the school. Miss Anne Wertsner gives to Miss Henderson her appreciation of a rquare meal with the hope that she may some time be able to indulge it. Miss Peretti gives to Miss Pollock her capacity for animated conversation. Miss Chadwick gives to Miss Elsa Borst her butterfly characteristics. Miss Hawkins, having decided not to enter the sphere of the seers herself, doth give to Miss Smith her faculty for causing mysterious appearances and disappearances urging her to take advantage of the gift on Sunday mornings. Miss Nancy Webster leaves to Mr. Kaiser her bent toward biological inquiry. Miss Mowry leaves to anyone who can bear the weight of it, her passion for Mr. Test. Miss Brill gives to Miss Wenz her capacity for foundatioivshaking laughter. Miss Hubbard gives to Miss Woolston her pleasure in watching the snails whiz by. The whole class doth give and bestow upon Miss Anna Nagy three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50) with which to buy a monogrammed fountain pen. Then the entire class passed resolutions leaving to the faculty sympathy tor hav' ing parted with the most noble, upright, and progressive class they will ever see at Ambler and to the Juniors a fine, outstanding example of what they may aspire to with their so far worthless lives. Selah. Seventeen Ud?)U l’fl PROPOSED ’ PLAN OFr THE- PENM A’ SCHOOL' OF'HORXICUl .TURJE FOR’ WOMEN ’AT’AMBLER iprejtnt ornco- PRt ENT DORMITORY- NEV DORMITORY- MEV POTTING J’HE.D • 'NEW GW.ENHOU. : - NEV GARAGE.- NEW BARN NEV TARMZRS COTTAGE-)MEV CHICKEN HOU L Sr RUN -)NCV TENNI COURT- NEV ROOT CELLAR-)PRCvTL 1T ELOVER GARDEN- PRE. T 1T WOOD LOT- PBE Lf1T VOODiT GARDtH-IVOR ICING GARDEN -©WATER SUPPLY-i AQUATIC GARDEN-IDR1VEVAY- itti tra aa an D D PH a Q®a.o UMtKU'N W.C School of Horticulture oA iMessage from the President of the 4Board of ‘Directors Miss Jane B. Haines THERE is much need of expansion at Ambler. Like all other healthy youth the School has grown, and now additional equipment is needed. Fortunately there is plenty of land, so gardens, fruit orchards and planta-tions can spread at will, but more greenhouse space, more dormitory space, and larger housekeeping accommodations are sorely needed. The dwellings are already crowded and, as we know, near-by rooms are few and far between. The three small greenhouses are inadequate for the use of a continually in' creasing student body. The barns need repairs and must soon be rebuilt on modern lines. The Board of Directors has long had these needs very much on its mind and as a beginning towards their fulfilment is making active plans. A survey of the situation has recently been made by Olmstead Brothers, the well-known Landscape Architects, and a tentative plan for extensions has been advanced. As this plan involves a great many things and a great deal of work it may be a long time before it is all carried out. In any case changes will be made gradually. The ways and means of adding greatly to any educational plant have to be carefully considered. This is especially true in our case as the School is still young and not yet very well known. The Endowment of the School is but a small one and as is usual with such funds it is restricted to use of income only. Special gifts for all buildings and extensions are required, therefore, and will have to be in hand before work can begin. The School, however, is fortunate in its friends. A group of interested people has gathered around Mrs. J. Hampton Barnes, and is already inaugurating an effort to help us to secure the needed funds. When the details of this effort are worked out, probably further announcements will be made. As a preliminary measure a movement to make the School better known has begun and in this we can all help. We can talk about the School, we can write about it, we can encourage its students and its graduates. We can invite our friends to come and visit it and can urge them to bring their friends. It is quite certain that as knowledge of the work and the needs of the School become better known and reach a larger public, friends who are unknown to us today will come forward and help us to fulfil our ambitions. Nineteen W ise-oA cres oA T en-Dollar-Qold- iece (garden Mrs. James Bush-Brown A SHORT time ago a friend wrote to me that she was moving to the country- at least, she called it the country although in reality it was little more than a fifty Toot suburban lot. However, I suppose that a fiftyToot lot looks like a wilderness after a year or so spent in a “tworoom, kitchenette and bath affair in the heart of a great metropolis. It seems that she had been given for Christmas a teivdollar gold piece with the suggestion that she spend it for flowers for this new home of hers and she had come to me for advice. There were already on the place a few shrubs and one precious old apple tree which the real estate developers had somehow neglected to cut down, but there were no flowers. So how, this friend of mine wanted to know, if I had exactly ten dollars to spend for flowers—how should I spend it? Would I be good enough to tell her—for she felt that she knew so little about flowers that she would not be able to make wise selections and she did want to make the most of her opportunities. I read between the lines that this particular ten dollars was probably all there would be to spend for flowers for some time to come so it must be considered a permanent investment. Turning gold into flowers—as if by fairy magic. What a delightful game it was! If I wrote larkspur on my list part of that gold would become tall, stately spires of blue, beloved by butterfles and bees. If I wrote Narcissus, part of it would blossom forth to greet the spring. But how many things could I write on the list before the gold was gone—that was the question. I opened my drawer, pulled out a sheaf of catalogues and got to work. Perennials there must be in generous quantities; bulbs for early spring effects; and annuals to fill in the gaps and to give an abundance of bloom for cut flowers. But perennials are expensive and a few dollars do not go far when one purchases them at from twcnty'five to fifty cents apiece. So in view of this it seemed wise to divide the perennials into two groups; those which could be grown easily from seed and those which must be propagated by some other method, by division or by cut' tings. In the first group one finds Columbines, Delphiniums, Lupins, Forget'me' nots, Arabis, Linum perenne, Hollyhocks and many others. In the second group come the Hardy Chrysanthemums, the Peonies, the Iris, the Hardy Asters, Bleeding heart and Phlox. Where immediate effect was desired and where money did not have to be considered one would probably purchase perennial plants, but, where the cost does have to be considered, it is surprising what can be accomplished by raising seedlings. One has to wait a little longer for the fulfillment of one's joys, to be sure, but what do a few fleeting months matter in the course of a gardening lifetime? And the accommodating little annuals are always ready to fill in the vacant spaces where the perennials will bloom the following season. It is true, also, that if some of the perennials are sown early enough in spring they will bloom the same season. Delphiniums sown indoors in late February or early March will usually give generous bloom from mid July until frost. The young plants should not be allowed to go to seed, however, or they may exhaust themselves to such an extent that they will not be able to pull through the winter. Therefore, taking all these points into consideration, it was decided in making up the list of perennials for this order to purchase seed of some and to purchase a few plants of such kinds as could not be raised from seed. It was quite impossible to get many plants of any one kind and T u rnty School of Horticulture a careful selection of varieties had to be made. After a season or so the plants could be divided or cuttings could be made and the stock greatly increased. The selection of the bulbs presented quite a problem. With the unprecedented high prices of Narcissus due to the quarantine regulations, how was one to get any' thing at all for the modest sum of a few dollars in gold? Tulips, fortunately, have not been affected, and one can still select some of the less expensive but none the less lovely varieties. Finally, after much juggling, I had the list of bulbs complete, and included in it were fifty Gladiolus, Primulinus Hybrids mixed, which I felt was quite a triumph. One might not have the perennials in all the fullness of their beauty that first summer but if one had fifty Primulinus Gladiolus it would coni' pensate for almost anything. Some could be planted early in the season and some could be planted later to bloom with the young seedling Delphiniums, for there is hardly a lovelier combination than the soft blue of the Larkspur with the pale salmon and yellow tints of the Primulinus Gladiolus. It was a simple matter to make up the list of annual seeds and I began to be amazed at how much sheer loveliness could be purchased for the sum of our golden dollar. Never, never, should anyone say that they cannot “afford” to have a garden! One dollar's worth of thoughtfully selected annual seed will plant a bit of garden ground that will be a thing of beauty and joy the whole season through. As for my friend’s garden, by the time I had almost finished my list I began to wonder whether her 50x100 foot lot was going to hold all that she would have. After sketching out a little planting plan, however, I found that she would be able to have a really lovely flower border the first season of almost 50 feet in length and 3 to 3] 2 feet in width, and that by the second season, when the perennial seedlings would be ready to assume their full responsibilities she would be able to almost double the extent of her activities. There was, however, one last decision to make before my lists were quite complete. There was just seventy'five cents left to spend and I couldn't decide which of three things to purchase. I wanted a Peony, variety Festiva Maxima, and 1 very much wanted a Bleeding Heart because I love them so and no garden seems to me quite complete without one, and I also wanted a Brier Rose, Harrison’s Yellow, to use as an accent at the far end of the flower border. Each of the three things cost seventy'five cents and it was only after long hesitation that I reached my decision. I would forego the peony for it was, after all, easier to give that up than to give up either of the others. I would send a bit of Bleeding Heart from my own garden and 1 would spend the seventy'five cents for a Brier Rose, which, with its myriad golden blooms, would be a symbol of the magic that can turn real gold into flowers. THE FINAL LIST Annual Seeds 1 pkt. Snapdragons—Variety Silver Pink ................$0.10 1 pkt. Sweet Alyssum—Variety Little Gem...................10 1 pkt. Phlox Drummond;—Shell Pink ........................10 1 pkt. Phlox Druinmondi—Snow White .......................10 1 pkt. Shirley Poppy—single—Wild Rose Pink ...............10 1 pkt. California Poppy—Yellow and Orange mixed...........10 1 pkt. California Poppy—Rosy Queen .......................10 1 pkt. Zinnias—dwarf- Salmon Pink ........................10 1 pkt. Baby's Breath—Elegans Alba ........................10 T wenty'Onc $1.00 W ise-oA cres Perennial Seeds 1 pkt. Columbine—Long Spurred Hybrid......................$0.15 1 pkt. Delphinium—Gold Medal Hybrid ........................15 1 pkt. Arabis Alpine .........................................10 1 pkt. Hollyhocks, single, mixed ............................10 1 pkt. Linum Perenne .........................................10 1 pkt. Lupinus Polyphyllus ...................................10 1 pkt. Myosotis Dissitiflora .................................15 1 pkt. Digitalis—Grand Shirley ...............................15 ---- $1.00 Bulbs 50 Gladiolus Primulinus Hybrid, mixed.......................$1.50 1 doz. Darwin Tulip—Clara Butt ...............................50 Zl doz. Cottage Tulip—Moonlight ...............................30 Zl doz. Tulips Clusianna ......................................34 2J 2 doz. Narcissus—Variety Empress ............................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Emperor ............................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Mrs. Langtry .......................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Barrii Conspicuous..................50 ---- $5.00 Perennial Plants 1 Phlox—Elizabeth Campbell ................................$0.25 1 Phlox—Miss Lingard .........................................25 1 Iris—Variety Queen of May...................................20 1 Iris—Variety Blue Boy.......................................20 1 Iris—Mme. Cheran ............................................20 1 Japanese Iris ..............................................25 1 Hardy Chrysanthemum—Variety Lilian Doty....................20 1 Hardy Chrysanthemum—Variety October Gold ..................20 1 Hardy Aster—Variety Climax .................................25 1 Hardy Aster—Variety Liege ..................................25 ---- $2.25 Brier Rose—Harrison’s Yellow ..................................... 75 $10.00 chapter from “Flowers for Every Garden ” to be published by the Atlantic Monthly Press of America. T wenty'two School of Horticulture Tail-Feathers and Temperaments Edith H. King P) EMEMBERING Ambler, one picture comes very clear—the clean black outline of i. trees in the woods across the road; a gray sky and, flapping across it, black wings of crows in two's and three’s and straggling groups. There is much cawing to ac-complish this daily migration—harsh sounds, yet somehow not out of the picture. Going to breakfast in the early morning there were always two or three starlings conducting a Punch and Judy show in the Plane tree. I suppose they are outlaws in bird society but not less amusing for that. We worked in the rose garden with bluebirds fluttering back and forth. The croon of a bluebird is half happy, half wistful, and, to me, wholly beguiling. They miss much who have never listened for it and then hoped to see the breath-taking blue of the bird. It's an experience that can make every spring more significant. Once I found a bluebird's nest in a hollow tree—the first one! And so might you! But the nest I remember even better is the one on a long, out-reaching arm of the beech tree by the creek—the nest that was not so big as half an eggshell. 1 was idling on my back under this old tree giant when directly above my head the excited buzz and green flash of a hummer made me very suddenly alert, but still. She hated my being there, but she took up her post on the nest just the same, for there were eggs to be protected. Of course she was not to be disturbed then, but I promised myself to come back in a week and see the little birds. I didn't get back, much as I wanted to. But in the fall I made a trip to the old tree and easily reached the branch where the nest was. I still have the nest on its broken branch, but never could it possibly have been discovered without the bird herself having directed my attention. Birds along the water seem always to have a special fascination. Kingfishers— it's so easy to know Kingfishers and so endlessly interesting to watch them. And the little green heron has shadowed me up and down the banks for long distances, his curiosity almost too much to be endured. The squawk of him is fearsome. But the great blue heron! When I first saw his tracks I knew they simply could not happen. No such big bird could be, that was all, not in that little creek I knew so well. But later I saw him many times as he flew up from his wading, always having seen me first. Only once have I surprised him wading and that once was an exciting moment. Being a canny chap, he knows his head on the long crooked neck and the pointed bill, looks just like a dead limb if he keeps still enough. I looked and looked to be sure I wasn't being tricked by my imagination. When he wiggled his bill I was sure. I moved to get a better view, and as I expected, he flew. Such a spread of wing, as he has! Does he ever make a sound. I wonder? Or is he as silent as the green heron is noisy? You have seen swallows strung like beads on a wire overhead? But you may never have seen a glistening blue barn swallow trailing long wings in the muddy road while she collected mud for her nest. Their little feet are so weak that walking is a T wenty'threc W'tse-oAcres hard task—who would want feet if he could fly like that? There are so many swal-lows and each kind has a different and interesting way of nesting. It will always be a miracle to me to witness the sure dive of a bank swallow into her nest-hole in a bank honeycombed with nest-holes. Flickers and purple martins are too rollicking to possess a temperament, but they possess personality--and humor. 1 think Kildeers have no humor, but they have temperament and are easily a prey to “nerves. In the night you will hear them start up crying from some alarm. But just-outof-thc-shell Kildeers are the sight to see! They are so fluffy and so temptingly pretty, but they can run!- -as fast as they will later fly, it seems, if you try to follow them. It's ungrateful to say no word for the little usual birds but- they are so many. Nuthatches are droll. Maryland Yellowthroats are fairy birds: and Goldfinches— well, they should be irresistible. Indigo Buntings would be worth the most patient search but they always take you unexpectedly. Orioles in a blossoming apple-tree— oh, it’s a consuming hobby, this one. May it straightway consume you, too! qA Letter from Totn” Hall ALTHOUGH, at present, a librarian by trade, my horticultural foundation is standing me in good stead. For the past two years, I have conducted a Junior and a Senior Nature Club in connection with my library work with children. These clubs meet weekly with an occasional Nature hike along Riverside Drive or in Central Park. Florist windows are resorted to as a means of learning the names of flowers, then back we go to the library and find books telling the mysterious legends of these same flowers. On a Friday afternoon in January, if Mr. Kaiser were to be our guest (and I hope he will be) he would feel as if he were back in the Ambler classroom surrounded with winter bouquets of dried up goldcnrod, sumac, and what not. And the little city urchins clamor for more. They know what “H “A “M stands for and they woudn't if it had not been for Ambler. A majority belong to the Liberty Bell Club which has its headquarters in Philadelphia. So you see what a Pennsylvania atmosphere pervades even little old New York. Last spring I took the course in Spring Flowers and Ferns consisting of weekly hikes led by Dr. Gunderson of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This year I am again taking a course in Trees and Shrubs lead by Dr. Graves of the same institution. This winter I was a member of the twenty-first class directed by the Woodcraft League of America. This course was intensely interesting, helping to fit one for Nature Lore Work. For three days over Memorial Day I am planning to be at the Woodcraft Camp at Greenwich, Connecticut, where one sleeps, works, plays, and eats out of doors with bird, fern, mushroom, flower, astronomy, and many more daily hikes. Here, Ernest Thompson Seton offers his Indian Village to his fellow Woodcrafters. From the seventeenth to the thirtieth of June I am. enrolled in the Nature Lore School at Camp Andree at Briar Cliff, New York, under the direction of Dr. William Vinal. And there you are. I really am a librarian but you see what Ambler did for me. T wentyfour School of Horticulture Something oAbout Delphiniums Anne Jelinek DELPHINIUMS, to most of us at least, immediately take us back to an old-fashioned or an English garden. The picture comes up before us of a rather sheltered, secluded garden, with soft grassy paths, corners of it deliciously shady, parts of it in the full blaze of the sun -combining a great wealth of color with a sweet and delicate fragrance—and then in these wide herbaceous borders one sees with joy great masses of tall, magnificent, blue Delphinium. And after all, who can resist the beauty of those handsome spikes of flowers which have such a range of different tones— blue, mauve, purple, pink, and white? And the soft green of the ornamental foliage makes such a splendid background for the smaller growing border plants. What a delight they are, too, when cut and arranged in a vase and mixed with some flowers of a contrasting color such as yellow snapdragons or pink primulinus gladioli, both of which flower at the same time of the year as the Delphinium. Moreover we are furnished with Delphinium spikes for quite a long period, usually from June until October and it is only with feeding in midsummer and removing the flower-spikes before seeding that one prevents the Delphinium from exhausting itself. We read in various books and magazines that the Delphinium is not particular as to its soil requirements or its situation, but like other perennials it benefits greatly if given proper attention. Delphiniums belong to Ranunculaceae or Buttercup family, to which belong many of our garden plants, e. g., Paeony and Aquilegia. The types of Delphiniums usually grown are Delphinium Belladonna, Delphinium chinense, and D. formosum, but in recent years great progress has been made in hybridization and most of the Delphiniums in our garden now arc hybrids. Before planting Delphiniums, the soil should be dug and well-rotted manure should be added to it. If the top soil is shallow, double digging should be done. T werityfivc Wise-oAcres removing the top soil and forking well-decayed manure into the sub-soil and then placing the top soil on its previous place. When the soil is prepared, the Delphiniums, which are usually one-year-old plants, are planted. This is usually done in spring when the plants begin to grow, but if the garden is well sheltered and the soil well drained, they may be planted in the autumn and that gives them enough time to settle before the frost comes. If arranged in beds, they should be planted about three feet apart, as they grow into quite large plants, but if used among other per' ennials they should be planted in groups and at least a space eight feet square allowed for each group. The best position for Delphiniums when planted in a wide herbaceous border is from the middle to the back. The position of the border where the Delphiniums are to be planted should be airy and sunny but not windswept. If the soil is of a light nature a top dressing of organic manure with bone meal, meat meal, or dried blood produces better results than a combination of sulphates, nitrates and so forth which have no organic substances in them. On a heavy soil, chemical manure gives the best results, if some humus forming material has been dug in before planting. The best method of application is to sprinkle the fertilizer in a ring around each plant about twelve inches from the crown of the plant. The fertilizers should be applied in small doses at intervals of ten days or two weeks. They should be applied after rain and worked into the soil the following day. There are three methods of propagating Delphiniums, the most common way being by seed, but division of old plants is often practiced. Cuttings, if taken in spring or after the plant has finished flowering, root readily if inserted in sand and kept well shaded. If propagated in this way, they should not, however, have any bottom heat; they benefit by being frequently syringed with water during the hot summer says. Cuttings should be three to four inches in length and they should be cut immediately below a node. After they are rooted, they should be potted on or planted out into nursery rows. Seed of the perennial Delphinium should be sown in February' or March in the greenhouse or in a hot bed. The seed usually germinates very slowly. When the seedlings have two or three true leaves they should be pricked out into boxes or potted on into small pots so as to give them enough room to grow, and also to prevent damping off. Later on, about May, the plants may be planted out in nursery rows, provided it is done carefully and the plants are looked after for several days until they are properly established. The seedlings should, in late summer, produce one or more spikes of lovely flowers. If seed is sown out-of-doors during spring, the plants should be well looked after during dry weather, and these seedlings should flower in the following season. If Delphinium plants are rather large in a perennial border, they may be taken up and divided and then transplanted. This is usually done in spring when the new shoots appear, or in summer after their first flowering is over. If done in summer, the plants should be cut down and allowed to start fresh growth and after that the plant may be dug up, divided, and transplanted again. Summer division should be done in wet weather, otherwise great care must be taken in watering and shading the plants until they get established. Delphiniums can be kept flowering for several months by continually cutting the spikes after they have flowered and thus preventing them from seeding. If the central spike is removed, the lateral and the new basal shoots begin to flower and so quite a succession of bloom may be obtained. But if this constant blooming goes on, care must be taken to provide the plants with nourishment in the form of a dressing of decayed manure or an application of liquid manure. A top dressing keeps the soil moist and cool and produces healthy growth and vigorous blooms. T wenty'Six School of Horticulture It is quite a good plan to cover the roots in winter to protect them. This may be done either with sand or wood ashes and a little mound of either sand or wood ash may be placed around each crown. This keeps the crown fairly dry during winter and prevents the young shoots from rotting. Until quite recently there has been practically no disease which has attacked Delphiniums and bugs were apt to get rather scared of the healthy, vigorous plants or perhaps they had respect for the handsome foliage and refused to destroy it. Anyhow the Delphinium was left severely alone so far as the insect world was concerned. Only in very neglected ground did one find a few millipedes, wood lice, and wire worms, which did some damage. To prevent these attacks the soil should be cultivated and also fumigated. For fumigation, small holes about three inches deep should be made and a fresh, dry mixture of the soil vaporizer (one spoonful to each hole) should be put in the ground, covered with soil and left undisturbed for ten days before planting. Delphiniums are sometimes attacked by mildew and in such cases precautionary measures should be taken. The preventative which is most commonly used is sulphide of potassium. This is dissolved in hot water and then rain water is added to make a two and a half gallon solution. The plants should have three sprayings, first, when the shoots are about twelve inches high and then later and again when the flower spikes begin to show. On cold soils, Black Rot Fungus sometimes appears at the base of the stems, penetrates to the crown of the plant, and causes decay of the entire root-stock. This disease, however, may be checked by improving the drainage of the soil and also by surrounding the plants with charcoal. Several years ago a peculiar “blight” attacked Chestnut trees all over the country and killed them. Although research work was done to find out the cause of the blight and how to prevent it from spreading, nothing definite was really found and practically all the trees were killed. In our woods there are still some of the diseased trees which show us what handsome trees the Chestnuts were. Now, something of the same nature is trying to kill off many of our fine Delphiniums. Last year the Journal of Agricultural Research published an account of the work done in connection with Delphinium Leaf Spot. In short, it stated that bacterial Leaf Spot on Delphiniums occurs north from Pennsylvania and westward from Maine to Illinois. It is interesting to note, that it occurred in the West in one place only, in Washington State. The spots of the disease are irregular in shape and about one to two centimeters in diameter. On the under side of the leaf the spots are small and brown and later when more developed, the spots are tarry black on the upper surface of the leaf. The old spots, however, do not have water-soaked edges like most bacterial diseases. In its very early stages, it can be readily seen with an ordinary lens. The lower surface appears to be sunken while the upper surface of the spots is slightly raised. Spots occur on the leaf blades as the result of stomatal infection and they are also common on the tips of the leaves where they make their entrance through the water pores. When infection takes place on the young leaves, distortion usually results from the failure of the diseased areas to keep pace with the growing healthy tissue. Flower buds are occasionally attacked and become black and distorted and the petioles and stems are also attacked. In later stages of the disease the spots coalesce and form large areas, sometimes covering the entire leaf. The climatic conditions play quite a large part in the development of the disease. In spring, cold, moist weather is very favorable to its growth, while in winter T wenty-seven W ise-oA cres the organisms live in the soil and are able to resist much cold and dryness. It has also been found that the lower leaves are infected first from the soil. On this account all diseased parts should be gathered and burned and the soil around the plants should be soaked with Bordeaux mixture. This should be done in spring before growth begins and later both the soil and the leaves should be sprayed and the growth of the disease checked in the beginning. We have several Delphinium plants which are infected with Leaf Spot and we are trying several preventions. Spraying and dusting with Bordeaux mixture may be a preventative but it is certainly not a cure, for the spots appear again on the leaves after several dustings. Some of the plants and the surrounding soil were treated with a solution of three different strengths of permanganate of potash. The strongest solution was i oz. of potassium permanganate crystals dissolved in 250 cubic centimeters of water. This concentrated solution was mixed with an equal proportion of water and the plants were, and are, being sprayed every ten days with 250 cubic centimeters of solution. The surrounding soil is stirred and also soaked with the solution. Formaline solution is also being tried as a spray and it is surprising to notice that the plants have survived this drastic treatment. Formaldehyde, as you prob' ably already know, is supposed to kill all living protoplasm, both in animal and vegetable cells, so we have hopes that the disease may, at least in some way, be checked. The solution made was one cubic centimeter of 40 per cent, formaline to 288 cubic centimeters of water and the application was the same as the potassium permanganate solution but used once only in four weeks. Lysol spray has also been tried on our plants in the same way as the two pre ventatives already mentioned. We are now making many experiments with various solutions and hope, in time, to not only check but cure the disease. The soil in which both the seed is sown and the plants are grown, is being sterilized. At present we have not found a definite cure but we hope to do so in time and if so, we shall publish it in the next issue of “Wise Acres. To prevent any possibility of getting disease on our young seedlings, we are taking all the necessary precautions. The soil used for seed sowing and pricking out is well sterilized with formaldehyde solution and it is left for a few days to dry before using it. The beds which are being prepared to receive our next crop of Delphiniums are frequently sprayed with formaline solution, using it twice as strong as before mentioned. We can only hope by using all these precautions to grow good, healthy Delphiniums free from the troublesome disease of Leaf Spot. The varieties of Delphiniums are all beautiful, and 1 should, indeed, hesitate, if asked to say which variety I liked best. The mauve ones may not appeal to some of us as much as the clear blues, but when wandering through a perennial garden, gay with many flowers, picking a few flowers here and there, one finds it extremely difficult to resist picking even the mauve ones as they look up with their dark brown, yellow, or white eyes and invite me to add them to my bouquet. Twenty-eight W ise-oA cres qA ‘Different Objective Beatrice Williams BATTLEFIELDS —the word has become almost a distant echo. Yet last July, as the train left the Gare du Nord it seemed but yesterday that I had taken my departure from this same Paris to see for the first time the Devastated Regions of Northern France. It was in reality over seven years ago. I was going as an agricultural worker to one of the units of the American Committee for Devastated France. This time my mission was a less vital one. I was going to look at the garden site at the Chateau of Blerancourt. Arrived in the village where the American Committee had had its headquarters in the days when I knew it, how changed everything seemed. An air of tranquillity had settled over everything—there was no longer that breathless activity which ensued just after the War, when desperate efforts were being made to raise some' thing—just any kind of shelter out of the ruins. Ruins there still were but they had become accepted facts. The town was of historic interest long before the last war on account of the great beauty of its seventeenth century Chateau. At the time of the French Revolu' lion, the Chateau was destroyed almost in its entirety. All that remains of it are its two massive stone carved portals, one at the entrance to the domaine, the other at the entrance to the Chateau proper, across the moat, into which the porte cullis was fastened; two similarly carved stone pavilions, one on either side of the second gateway and at each extremity of the ramparts which rise from the moat to form the foundation of the ancient Chateau. These remains are listed with the Beaux Arts as “Monument Historique . The pavilions were seriously damaged in the last war. They were restored by the American Committee and given with the adjoining land to the Commune of Blerancourt, to be used as a public garden on the condition that one of the pavilions be kept as a Museum and the other as a Guest House. Behind the pavilions on the emplacement of the original Chateau, some of the walls of which are still standing, the site was chosen for the Memorial Garden. The beginnings of this Garden had already been made. Little, however, could be said to be growing, owing to the depleted condition of the soil, and to the quantity of war debris still unremoved. The reconstruction of this garden was then to be an all absorbing occupation for two coming months. I was to revamp my French to affect a gardening vocabulary. Evenings were to be spent in tortuous calculations in metres and centimetres, and an international search of nursery cata logues was to ensue tracking down international favourites. To do the actual planting, I was to have two French gardeners. They are perhaps more meticulously trained than gardeners of any other nation, owing possibly to the demands made bv the universal French Style which is classical. These gardeners are painstaking almost to a fault. There is, in their method of planting, no flexibility. A sense of balance and an eye for a straight line and square corners is innate in any everyday gardener. The ceremony used in the planting of boxwood could not be outdone. They like to plant by a metre stick and they prefer parterres to perennial borders. Irregularity they abhor. The removing of the old soil and the bringing of the new was all done by con-tract so that I had only to sec that my plan was correctly executed. The Garden setting was ideal. The pavilions, the imposing gateways, designed and carved in the time of Louis XIV, might have been a little piece of Versailles. Thirty School of Horticulture Their soft gray stone work standing out against the bright blue sky and the cooing pigeons swooping down from the gateways and alighting on the edge of the pool were inspirations. They gave life to the garden. The soft sound of the splash of the fountain and the light and shadow at play on the ruined walls combined to give a feeling of harmony, a sense of repose. And perhaps most alluring of all was the vista from the very end of the garden, looking down past the pool and fountain, past the first gateway, past the second gateway out to the cobbled street in which two or three kerchiefed peasants might be chatting and still further to the narrowing treedined road leading to Compicgne. The actual work of the garden began by the making of a compost of soil and manure for the roses. This procedure met with intense appreciation as the French peasant reveres good soil. He is a natural savant in all matters pertaining to the land. To see him at the humble task of spading is an education. I left the soil from July to November turning it once. It repaid my trouble and expense. My next procedure was to visit a nursery to select the ornamental trees and roses I required. The remaining plants were sent from near Orleans. The nursery which was recommended to me as specializing in clipped yews and boxwood was Moser Fils, at Versailles. I spent an intensely interesting morning going over their nursery. Their topiary work was very fanciful indeed. Among other objects I saw a life-size windmill, an aeroplane, and a Temple of Love, all made out of yew. There seemed miles of conical yews and acres of balls of box. Beside the usual run of nursery stock they had a very artistically planned show garden for roses. I was wishing to buy roses, Hybrid Teas in the rose'salmon'yellow shades. My “vendeur very gallantly picked a number of blooms for me, imprinting a figure on the petal of each rose with the pencil. I thought this a unique method of labelling varieties! I found Pernet roses very much in favor both in England and France. The follow' ing were among some of the varieties recommended to me: Souvenir de Claudius Pernet, Souvenir de Georges Pernet, Mme. Edouard Her-riot, Louise Katherine Breslau, Betty Uprichard, George Beckwith, Reins, Lady Hillingdon, Sunstar, Queen Alexandra, Golden Ophelia, Los Angeles. The Viola I used for a carpet was La Parisienne, a rich warm purple. On my French trellis 1 planted the same variety of climbing Hybrid Tea roses intermingled with large'flowered, purple clematis in varied tones. Outside of roses, clematis, wistaria, honeysuckle and ivy, I found it difficult to get climbers. I found Bignonia radicans and Polygonum baldschuanicum made an attractive combination either falling over a wall or climbing up one where staples can be driven in, or other support given. A little Virginia Creeper as well, adds a note of color in the fall. Small rock plants called forth quite a hunt as they are too inconspicuous to be very popular. Again over ground covers I met with obstacles. Ivy kept recurring, alternating with Japanese honeysuckle. Euonymus radicans seemed little liked, or certainly little used, and Pachysandra was quite an outsider, though perhaps for' tunately so. In very few instances are green coverings encouraged on stone work of any kind. In comparison to American gardens, this seems to suggest a certain bareness. Bulbs of all kinds are popular. Most of them are imported from Hob land, and as the exchange this year was very high, I bought as few as possible, con' sequently another year my perennial border must have many more Darwin tulips added to it and I wish to see the moat a sheet of yellow Narcissi blooms. T hirtyone W ise-oA cres When I left my garden in March, almost entirely completed, it was with the mingled feeling of satisfaction and sadness. Satisfaction that the natural charm had, I believe, been enhanced, and the soil I knew to be greatly enriched, so that after June the setting for the pavilions would be a glory. My thoughts leaped for ward twenty years or more to the time when the wistaria would be a large, trunked vine with its pendulous mauve blooms overhanging the arches of the bridge; to the time when the little Wellingtonians would be sentinels once more in the Chateau grounds, replacing the shrapnel'pitted and shelbtorn trees we had removed, and the limes would have formed a second generation of pleached allee, a characteristic of French chateau. My sadness then was purely selfish—a pang of regret at leaving a second time this corner of France and its lovable people. The CPast Musically murmuring. Rhythmically low, Breaks a surf of memory On the Long Ago. Faint, our quivering spirit lies Prone upon the sand As the DreanvTide softly sighs O'er the magic strand. Soaring hopes and cherished things In the strain are borne. Paeans that our yearning sings In life's rosy morn. Memories with Time endear Wraiths of vanished days, As in autumn, scenes appear Wreathed in purple haze, And the Past, relentless, takes Toll of joy and woe, While the surf of memory breaks On the Long Ago. George B. Kaiser Thirtytwo Jig Thirty'three W ise-oA cres Insect Friends and Foes M. B. Chadwick WHAT is an insect? To the average person this word might include all the “crawly things as well as an occasional human being. To one making a study of these creatures, however, there are some limitations. It is estimated that there are four times as many species of insects as of all other members of the animal kingdom. This seems hard to believe, yet we may gain some conception of the fact when a swarm of rose-bugs appears on our favorite rose-bush or when the grasshoppers make a cross-country tour devouring every blade and leaf in their way. Whence come these hordes of insects? That is a question which can, indeed, be more easily asked than answered. It is known that there is constant warfare among them and that one insect may serve as ftxxl for another kind or may even be eaten by his stronger brother. This struggle has a tendency tq maintain a balance between those insects which are men's friends and those which are his foes, but, unfortunately, Nature is not always able to thus protect us and so we are at intervals visited with what we term an insect plague. A striking example is the Japanese beetle. In its native home natural enemies prevent it from becoming a menace, but, when introduced to our country, where these enemies do not exist, it is easy to imagine how the unwanted new arrival has so rapidly increased to appalling numbers. Practically everyone claims to be familiar with the good work done by the honeybee and, on the other hand, to know that the common house-fly should be looked down upon as a dreaded carrier of disease, but the average person does not realize how beneficial some less familiar insects can be. Many people think that all insect larvae (worms they call them) are harmful and will conscientiously kill every one that they find in their gardens. Thus they may destroy a beneficial insect like the Lace-wing or Golden-eyed fly (Order Neuroptera; family—Chrysopidae). Several days after the Lace-wing has been killed the plant on which it was found may be covered with aphids (plant lice). Suppose that the larva had been watched instead of killed. The observer undoubtedly would have been astonished to see it grasp an aphis with its sickle-shaped mandibles or jaws, suck it until only the shriveled skin remained, cast it aside, reach for another, and so continue until the entire aphid's colony would have been destroyed before any harm could have been done. For a period of ten days or more this larva, aphis-lion as it is sometimes called, continues its good work. Then it rolls into a ball and spins about itself a small, white, silken cocoon. About two weeks later the mature golden-eyed fly comes out. Aptly is she named for her eyes are truly goid. It would be hard to find a daintier creature in the insect world than this lovely transformation from a larva that you or I might be tempted to kill because of its unloveliness. Her body is pale green with veined wings so delicate in structure and brown antennae so slender she seems too fragile for her wwld. But unfortunately, as with so many beautiful things, she has an undesirable characteristic—a disagreeable odor. After flying about for a short time something seems to tell her that she has a duty to perform before her short life comes to an end. A leaf or twrig is chosen, usually in a place where food may be easily secured, and here she deposits her eggs. They are not laid in a mass but each one is carefully stuck at the tip of a slender stalk of silk about one-half inch high. This wise mother seems to have some fore-kmwledge of the rapacious habits of her off-spring. On hatching, each cne would cat all brothers within reach without a moment’s hesitation had some arrangement not been made by her for the perpetuation of her kind. It is this highly developed instinct in the insect creature which makes them so intensely fascinating. What can be more marvelous than the instinct of the Thirty'fonr School of Horticulture Monarch butterfly which always lays her eggs on a milk-weed plant, the only vegetation her young can eat? As has already been stated not all crawling things are true worms even though they may be legless. The word “worm” is often used where the larval stage of an insect would be more correctly expressed by the terms caterpillar, grub, or maggot. It is true that the common earthworm will not sorout legs or wings overnight but the butterfly, beetle, and wasp must pass through a more or less worm-like stage before the imago or perfect insect can make its appearance. There are some insects, though, such as squash-bugs and crickets, that hatch directly from the egg as baby insects or bugs. These grow by consecutive moultings. Butterflies and other insects which pass through four stages of development are said to have complete metamorphosis, while insects like the cricket have incomplete metamorphosis. As an illustration of the butterfly type let us trace the life history of a common mud wasp (Eumenidae). The wasp belongs to the order Hymenoptera or membranous-winged insects. It is to this group that the most highly developed insects belong, for example, the honey-bee and the ant. Many members of this order live in colonies, social organizations consisting of queens, workers or undeveloped females, and males. The mud wasp, however, leads a solitary life. Almost everyone is familiar with the home, it constructs in protected places on wooden buildings and has, perhaps, watched it making many trips back and forth, returning each time with a tiny ball of mud which it molded into several cylindrical tubes placed side by side. When the cells have been completed, the mother wasp flies about collecting spiders or harmful caterpillars to be stored away and later used as food. She stings the spiders, piercing one or more of the ganglia of the ventral nerve cord and thus paralyzing them. In this way her prey is rendered harmless without any loss of food through decomposition. The wasp lays her eggs on the spider and seals the cell in which he has been placed with mud. In a few' days the egg hatches into a tiny, soft-bodied, legless grub. Thus surrounded by food, w'hat need has it for feet? At the end of five days, it weaves a silken cocoon in which the pupa is formed. It is characteristic of larvae to eat voraciously as s x)n as hatched. It seems almost as if they knew of the coming rest period for w'hich stores of fat must be formed to be used in making new tissue in the pupa and imago stages. Early in the life of the larva imaginal w'ings, legs, and head parts start to develop from deeply imbedded cells of the larval skin. During the period of pupation, marvelous internal changes take place. The old body is torn down, most larval organs and tissues being entirely disintegrated. This process is called histolysis and is succeeded by a building up process known as histogenesis. During the latter process the stored fat is used in making new tissues. A few of the larval organs survive but most of them are completely broken down and replaced by others better adapted to the habits of the adult insect. At the end of a period of ten days, a depression occurs at the center of the quiescent larva and the transformation from grub to pupa takes place. When the fully developed wasp emerges, nothing remains in the cocoon but a few tiny pellets of excreta. What has become of the disintegrated larval material? If the grub had been cut open several days after it had formed the cocoon, it would be found to contain a smooth pasty liquid. The way in which this substance is converted into a fully developed insect is indeed beyond comprehension. Flies belong to the order Diptcra. They are distinguished by the fact that they have but one pair of true wings. Like the wasp, flies have complete metamorphosis. The house-fly is one of the most harmful of the many pests of this group. It can so easily spread disease by carrying germs on its feet from place to place. Flesh-flies, bot-flies and stable-flies, because of their filthy habits, are friendless. Yet some of them are very beneficial for they dispose of much decaying organic matter. One especially beneficial fly is the Tachina fly. The female fastens her eggs to the skin of a young caterpillar and the hatched larvae burrow' into the body and feed on the Thirty-five Wise-e lcres tissues. The caterpillar may not be killed until after pupation and that is how it happens that sometimes when we are expecting a beautiful moth from a cocoon which we have carefully saved for months, much to our surprise and indignation, tachina flies emerge. We must, however, have great respect for this fly which helps to keep in check some of our most destructive insects, for example, the army worms and toe leaf'eating beetles. We know that insects have existed in remote ages for their wings have been found in coal, the fossilized swamp forests of ancient times, but probably at no time in history have they been of so great importance as during the present age. Insects are to be found in all parts of the globe—reaching north into regions so cold that life seems impossible and south into the heart of the tropics where they vie with the birds and flowers in brilliance of coloring. Insect pests mean a loss of thousands of dollars annually to the farmer; disease' carrying insects cost us thousands of lives: and the house'flies, mosquitoes, and gnats cause much discomfort during the warm, summer months. Yet not all insects are harmful and some are very beneficial. What, for example, would become of the vegetable kingdom if there were no insects to cross'pollinate? Since there are so many insects, perhaps it is to be expected that some should try to rob the flower without being of benefit to it. Nature has a way of overcoming this difficulty and providing for those she favors. Is it not interesting to presume this in the case of the common yellow squash blossom? It has an inferior ovary with the nectary at the base of the corolla. Should a glossy beetle alight on this flower and crawl inside, his mouth parts are clamped together so he cannot reach the nectary and must fly away discouraged. But should a fuzzy bee alight and crawl inside this blossom she will insert her long tongue and sip as much nectar as she likes. And as she flies away the tiny hairs on her body are covered with pollen grains which she may drop on another squash blossom. Thirty'six School of Horticulture qA Woodland ‘Tath Frances Hawkins and Nancy S. Webster Wild gardening is a term applied to the planting of perfectly hardy, exotic plants in places where they will take care of themselves and which, if preserved against vandalism and properly handled, will naturalize and spread in the course of time. There is a vast difference between digging plants up because they look pretty and then forgetting them, and in digging them up to take home and add to a well cared-for collection. What makes one feel worse than to see a car hung, certainly not decorated, with wind'whipped flowers or to come on a bit of woodland that has been stripped of every available piece of mountain azalea? Anyone who has a fine sense of feeling and love for plants can gather judiciously from plantations so that :'t will never be noticed. And those who gather with a definite aim have the satisfaction of starting new plantations and leaving something to go down to posterity. All good things start at home. Hence the wild growth near at hand should first be preserved and developed, and then added to by transplanting of native plants and shrubs from woods and fields in the surrounding country, and by the purchase of the more rare and precious plants. There are many forms of planting- -not all necessarily picturesque—but who is not moved by the sight of a hillside of laurel in bloom or a little wood carpeted with arbutus? The effect obtained in a wild garden is quite distinct from that obtained in other gardens, whether it be on a huge scale—hillsides or fields of one planting to be enjoyed as part of the landscape from afar—or small intimate a planting near at hand to walk around and through and exclaim over; and often in a small planting the most precious ones stand in ones or twos and are to be admired as specimens. All gardeners have the common sin of overdoing, only like all other sins, some of us can keep it in check better than others. I think, perhaps, it is harder for wild gardeners than others, for we all start out with the same formula scattered, loose plantings which give relief and a most soul-satisfying feeling of repose. It is almost as easy to plant in pretty ways as in ugly ones, if we only take the time and trouble to think. When this is done, and the effect all to be desired, then we yield to tempta-tion and add a few more of this a little of that and the charm is lost. Beware! There are many advantages to be obtained by wild planting. Many plants thrive better in rough places. Ferns, flowering climbers, grass, and trailing shrubs relieve each other and look infinitely better in wild plantings than in stiff formal ones. No ugly effects from decay are noticed in the swift passage of the seasons, for in the semi'wild state the beauty of the species is shown at flowering time and then lost among the numerous objects around it and by other plants coming into flower. The daisies and goldenrods have not and cannot gain a legitimate place in our enclosed gardens on account of their dangerous habit of spreading, but are in their natural glory in a wild garden. Most of all a wild garden is the proper place for spring flowers, such as narcissus and spring beauties, for there they do not interfere with the flower garden or the cutting of the lawn, for what is more unsightly than dead and half dying tops of bulb foliage? Nature shows us how to beautify our woods, fields, and meadow lands. We cannot copy nature, but we can plant to obtain the most natural effect. It fell to Frances' and my lot to develop the woodland path for our Senior project. Last September Mrs. Bush-Brown took us out to the little tree and shrub planting back of the green garden with the apple tree at one end, a nice nook, flanked with evergreens a little to the left, and on the right, deciduous trees and a few spruces and hemlocks tapering off to the open field, which is slightly higher than the level of the Thirty-seven W ise-oA cres apple tree. It is about two hundred feet in length and terminates in the annual garden—an ideal situation connecting the green and annual gardens. Naturally, the soil under the young trees is beginning to form a good layer of humus from the decaying leaves, but this is still very shallow, while the soil in the open is nothing to brag of, being inclined to bake in dry weather. But how monot-onous gardening would be if all soils were alike, good or bad! Think of never having the joy of coming on a vein of dark, rich humus, or clear, fine sand! So we walked through the wood'lot, exclaiming over its possibilities, while Mrs. Bush'Brown drew on our imaginations a bit. In a few days we cut away some branches to make a path—just in a direct, natural line and in the open we single dug the ground on each side for a width of five or six feet. In the spring, we went over this again, shaking out the couch grass. There was a marked difference between the soil we forked over in the fall and again in the spring, and that which got only the one forking in the spring. The former was lighter, easier to free of couch grass, and the leaves that had been turned under were turning rapidly into rich, dark humus. The only things we planted in the autumn were scillas, companulata, and nutans, and trilliums. These we put in shade and semi'shade in good-sized clumps, ten and twelve each, putting them down two or three inches, and covering with leaves which we weighted down with sticks. We could not get on the ground very early in the spring, especially as the open, field'like end was exposed and windswept. But when we did, we planted clumps of violets nice round ones right up to the edge of the path and polyanthus in little groups of threes and fives, putting a few crumpled leaves in the holes under them for humus. These are most satisfactory, as we planted them in sun and shade, close up to the edge of the path, or back under the trees, where their bright yellow and red blossoms bring out the tints in last year's leaves, that otherwise l x k so dead and dull. As our polyanthus were mixed, we planted them so, as it seemed more natural, than if we had separated the yellows and reds. Then we concentrated on foxgloves (Digitalis) planting the entire V-shaped nook in the evergreens with them and some more just beyond the spread of the apple tree. Frances planted one nice big fellow beyond the apple tree toward the road and every time I see him the humor of it appeals to me for he is like a rogue or a small boy who runs away from home, but cannot really get very far. Then we planted some out in the open, close up to the edge of the path, like the pictures in “Jermia Puddle Duck.” Under these we put some peat moss as we wanted them to be very tall. Solomon's seal (Poiygonium officinalis), lilies-of-the-valley (Convalaria), Thalic-trum anemonoides, and Geraniums were all planted in shade and semi-shade with peat moss or crumpled leaves under them. Some mallows (Hibiscus) were given to us and I dug some red lilies (Homerocallis) from a patch across the road. 1 transplanted them one gray day after a rain and it rained some more and they never flagged! These and native asters were all planted more or less to the rear, while well established clumps of goldenrod were left undisturbed. Frances and I had several jolly trips to the woods, which were most interesting and instructive, as we found spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) and dog-tooth violets (Erythronium Dens-Canis) abounding in one woodlot and blood-root (Sanguinaria canadensis) in another, while in the third there was a smattering of them all. We got some of the above plants—the first we planted in semi-shade, their habitat, and the last two in the full shade. The blood-roots came up readily, while the dog-tooth violets caused us some pangs before we pulled them through, but thanks to the incessant rainfall we lost nothing. Frances was very partial to the Jack-in-the-pulpits and also took great pains Thirty-eight School of Horticulture with the Violets, taking some from sunny slopes, others from the woods or wet places and tried to give them their individual requirements, thus preserving their natural differences in colour, size, and fragrance. The partridge berry (Michael repens) from the woods was far superior to that which we bought. About this time the Mertensia arrived, which is undoubtedly my favorite and, needless to say, received its due share of peat moss, was shaded by pots, and even watered, thereby causing rain to fall that very night. 1 planted violets among the scillas and May-apples among the mallows and scattered a few columbines here and there. Frances planted a lovely group under the apple tree with a little of everything that she brought from the woods, including some false Solomon's seal (Senilacina). The garden was grow-ing but which way were we to measure it, across or lengthwise? We both felt the need of stepping-stones to pull it together. Mrs. Bush-Brown told us of a creek on her farm and we took the Ford and sallied forth, if the motions in a Ford can be called such. We made three trips and acquired eighty one stones. We drove the car up a woodland road and got stuck in red mud and Frances had to push and I coaxed and then both together. The first day 1 swung across the stream by a tree limb and trailed my left leg in the water, and the following day, Frances stepped in mid-way up to her knee. We found snakes and ants, walked through black-berry thickets and jumped over ditches, but we got our stepping stones and every one at school had to go out under the apple tree and exclaim over them! The stones are all placed now and I think it is beginning to look as Mrs. Bush-Brown thought of it that mid-September day. She has been more than a fairy-godmother to the path, coming out frequently when we were working and making a suggestion here and there, or giving us some plants. Now that the stepping stones are in we have added some Phlox divaricata, Johnny-jump-ups (Viola tricolor), native pansies (Viola pedata), and sand-myrtle (Leiophyllum). We also planted two flowering crabs (Prunus). We used the evergreens for a background for one and put the other nearer the annual garden. We got some periwinkle (Vinca) from down near the little Quaker graveyard. think it would l e most interesting if the history of each individual plant might e kept as we have quite a collection now and the beauty of the whole scheme is that each year two Seniors will add to it and leave their imprint upon it. May the garden grow as planned! The Culture of Some Tlatits Suitable for a Wild Qarden Aconitum—Monk's hood—ranunculaceae Propagation—Seeds sown as soon as ripe in cold frames or border. Root division late fall or early spring. Naturalized in shubberies besides streams or in rich bog. Adiamuni—pedation maidenhair fern—Filices Propagation—By spores in fine sandy peat, moist and shaded under a bell glass. Pot in March. Outside among shade loving plants, moist soil, rough fibrous peat, little sand and lumps of broken stone or brick. Anemone—ranunculaceae Propagation—Seeds sown in sandy soil in cold frames in spring; root division in October or March, root cuttings in spring. Position—Sunny or partially shaded borders. Plant Autumn or spring. Anemone liepatica Thrives on made banks and in crevasses. Deep rooted. Anewone Pulsatilla- Pasque flower. Prefers well drained light deep soil. Anemone Sylvesiris Never opens its bud. W tse-oA cres Aquilegia—Columbine—ranunculaceae Propagation—Seeds sown in sandy soil in cold frame August or open border. R(xn division October or April. Position—Well drained, something partially shaded, rockeries and borders. Plant out in October or late March. Alpine varieties need sandy or gritty moist soil, well drained ledges in a rock garden. Asclepias—Swallow wort—Aschpiadiaceae Soil—Rich light peat Position—Sunny and moist borders. Plant—October and April. Propagate—By division of roots October and April. Also by seeds in cold frames in spring. All require protection in severe weather. Asclepias tuberosa—Butterfly weed, flowering in July and August. Aster—Michaelmas Daisy—compositae Propagation■—Seeds in cold frames, cuttings of young shoots in cold frames spring or summer; division of roots autumn or spring. Position—Sunny borders or wild gardens. Plant—October or spring. Botrychium—Moon fern—Stilicea Propagation—Division of roots in April. Position Moist shady rockery or in grass. Water freely during the summer. Cimicifuga—Sna e Root—ranunculaceae Offensive odor to the flowers. Propagation—--Division of roots in March. Seeds sown in cold frames in September. Plant in October, November or March. Position—Moist shady borders, medium soil, not good for a real garden, only for a wild or nearly wild garden. Claytonia—portulacaceae Soil—For annuals, ordinary. Perennials, damp peat or bog. Position—Rockery annuals; moist shady border for perennials. Plant—Perennials in October or March. Propagate- Annuals, seeds sown outdoors in April or in flats inside in March. Perennials, likewise or by offsets in October and March. Convallaria—Lily'of'the'Valley—liliacea Propagate—Division of crowns in early autumn planting 2 to 3 apart to allow room to spread. Position—Partial shade, along shaded south wall for early blooms. Top dress with manure every year. Lift and divide the crowns every few years, frost hurts the blooms. If possible have soft loamy soil well enriched with rotten manure and plenty of sand, though lilies may be grown in heavy loam. Cyprpedium—Lady Slipper—Orchidaceae Propagation—Plant in March and April for hardy outd x r species. Division of root at potting time. Position—Partially shady sheltered nooks on rockery—water in dry weather. Cyprpedium acuale 8 to 12 , flowers in early summer, thrives in moist peaty or sandy soil or leaf mould. Cyprpedium pubescans does well on dry sunny banks among loam, stones and grit. Digitalis—Foxglove—S Perennial culture Forty School of Horticulture Propagation—Seeds plant September, November or April. Position—Open shady border or naturalizing in woodlands and wild gardens. Soil, rich, ordinary. Look well as a background to a mixed border. Look well among Rhododendrons. Biennial culture Propagation—Seeds sown in May deep in shady border. Transplant in June and put to permanent position in October and November. Often seedlings will come up around the old plant, these may be transferred to flowering position. The large ones will flower the following spring, the small ones not until the year after. The Gloxinia flowered is the most beautiful. If the central spike is cut the side shoots do very well particularly when watered in dry weather. In good varieties a side shoot will give a good seed. Erythroniam—Dog’s-Teeth Violet- -liliaceae Propagation—Offsets in August, plant about 3 deep. Position—Sheltered rockeries, beds or borders, or under shade of trees. Seldom want transplanting. Soil—Loam, peat, leaf mould. Top dress annually with decayed manure. The rich soil will often give good growth but poor flowers. It might be good to use poor sandy soil. The bases of trees are a favorite place for these flowers. Eupatorium—Compositac Propagation—Separation of old plants October and November or March and April. Position—Open borders and shrubberies better in wild garden than border. Soil- Ordinary soil. The most suitable kinds are Eupatorium ageratoides aids-simum, Eupatorium cannabium, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Eupatroium pur-pureum. Gentians crinata- -gentian Sow seed first of April, use shallow flat filled with spaghnum moss broken finely and pressed down firmly, soak and sow seed thinly. Do not cover, shade with newspaper. To water, dip in tub and let it seep through from the bottom. Plant in l i' pots in six weeks. In two months transplant into 4 pots. Do not disturb roots. Cover with leaves during the winter, plant out in a shady moist border in May of the second year. Often, outside, the plants which are biennials are killed by frost which probably explains why they are comparatively scarce. Halenaria—Butterfly Orchid—orchidaccae Soil—Compost equal parts leaf-mould, peat, sand. Position—Moist partially shaded border. Plant—October or April. Mulch surface of bed in June with leaf mould, etc. Water freely in summer if position is dry. Replanting necessary only when plants show signs of deterioration. Hemerocallis—Day Lily—Liliaceae Propagation—Root division October, November or March. Soil- Ordinary, rather deep and rich. Position—Moist borders open or slightly shady. Mulch old clumps with decayed manure in April or May. Lift and replant only when they are unhealthy. Good drainage, surrounding the bulbs with sand half an inch thick allows excessive moisture to pass away, acts as guard against slugs, and since it is fresh, as a barrier against diseases. Bulbs grow better if a little peat is put under when planted. If they are once drought stricken they rarely recover. This applies to all lilies—see Sheepers. Soft Forty'one W ise-oA cres yellow ones good with Delphinium. Belladonna and soft magenta or mauve tone. Brighter ones combine with darker blues and purples. Naturalize along streams. Hespins—Sweet Rocket—Dane's Violet Dame's Rocket—Double Rocket—cruciferae Soil- Ordinary rich moist. Position—Sunny beds or borders. Plant—October, November, March and April. Mulch with decayed manure in May. Apply liquid manure occasionally in summer to double varieties. Cut down flower stalks in October. Lift and replant double kinds every second year. Propagate—Single seeds sown indoors in March or outdoors in April. Trans' plant seedlings in June or July. Double kinds by cuttings of young shoots 3 long inserted in sandy soil in shady position outdoors in July and Sep-tember or under hand light or in cold frame, September and October, transplanting in March. Also by root division October or March. Lobelia—Cardinal Flower—campanulaceae Soil—Ordinary rich. Position—Sunny moist borders. Plant—October, March and April; on all cold damp soils lift in October and replant, from cold frames, in March. Lupinus—Lupine—legummosae Soil —Sandy loam Position—Sunny rockeries or open sheltered borders. Plant—October and April—Protect from November to April. Culture of perennial Mulch with decayed manure, in April, cut down flower stems in October. Culture of annuals—Sow seeds l deep 1 apart in April where required to flower. Thin seedlings to 2 to 3 in May. Remove seed pods as soon as they form. Apply stimulants when in flower. Water freely in dry weather. Propagate by seeds sown indoors March outdoors late April. Malva- Musk Mallow—malvaceae Soil—Ordinary. Position- Sunny or partially shaded beds or borders. Plant—October or March. Mulch with manure in autumn. Mertensia Virgin iai—Boraginaceae- -Virginian Cowslip Propagation Seeds sown Ui in sandy peat in cold frames in autumn. Divi-sion of roots in October or March. Soil Sandy peat and loam moist well drained. Position—Partially shaded rockeries or border. Lift and replant every four to five years. Plant October, November, March, April. Should not be diV turbed after planting. Myosotis—Forget'me'not—Boraginaceae Myosotis alpestris Soil—Moist gritty loam. Position- Partially shaded rockery, surrounded by small pieces of sandstone. Plant—March and April. Podophyllum—May Apple—Berberidaceae Soil—Moist peat. Position—Partially shaded borders, woods, marshes or bog gardens. Plant—March and April. Propagate—Root division March and April. Forty-tie o School of Horticulture Polemonium—Jacobs ladder—Polemoniaceae Soil—Ordinary, rich deep, well drained, garden loam. Position Open sunny borders for Polemonium coeruleum. Sunny well drained rockeries for other species. Plant—October, November, March, April. Top dress annually in spring with well decayed manure. Propagate—Polemonium coeruleum by division in October and November, other species by division in March and April. Cut off all flowers immediately after flowering. Species—P. Coeruleum, P. Confertum, P. Robustum, P. Melletum. Polygonatum—Solomon’s Seal—liliaceae Soil—Ordinary light mould. Position -Partially shaded beds, borders and woodlands. P'lant—October, November or March. Top dress annually with decayed manure in March. Apply stimulants occasionally in summer. Propagate—By division of roots October, November or March. Orchis—Hardy Terrestrial orchids—orchidaceae Soils- Rich loam. Position—Sunny deep well drained borders or rockeries. Plant- August to November placing tubers 2 below the surface. Water freely during growing period. Mulch annually in April or March with decayed manure. Lift and replant only when unhealthy. Apply weak stimulant occasionally during the summer. O. Spectabis about the only one grown in North America. Trillium— Wood lily—lilaceae Soil—Sandy peat. Position- Shady moist well drained border, or sembaquatic position. Plant—August to November. Top dress annually in March with layer of decayed leaves. Lift and replant only when absolutely necessary. Propagate—Division of tuberous roots August to November. Forty-three Wise-oAcres Would You Like an Herb Cjarden? Anna Barbara Nagy AN HERB garden is one of various sober tones, small, dainty flowers, and sweetly scented as well as aromatic leaves. There is the delightful border of chives, for instance, with its nice, thick tufts of tiny, mauve flowers. Salvia officinalis (Sage), because of its velvety leaves and spikes of delicate bluish purple flowers, makes a very, very attractive bed. One should also have Pot Marjoram in an herb garden fcr it is exceedingly pretty. The plant has a semi-prostrate habit, curving branches and bears soft pink flowers. Next to this bed can be one of Summer Savory, with its maze of tiny, white flowers. It would be so quaint, also, to have along the back of the garden a row of Tansy, the old-fashioned, tall perennial with beautiful foliage and golden flower heads. These flower heads, by the way, retain their golden hue for years. These are just a few of the many herbs which we love for beauty of form, but we should remember that the chief charm of an herb garden is the sweetly scented leaves of such plants as Lavender, Balm, Basil, Rosemary, Rue, and Mint. Yet, in spite of such intriguing loveliness, we see comparatively few herb gardens. To be sure, there are many dear, elderly people who, because they love these charming herbs, each one having an individual and unique fragrance, association, and tradition, sadly regret their rarity. One sweet, old lady said that a bed of Lavender always reminds her of doves. She also associates it with cleanliness and refinement on account of some inherent quality of this plant. However, I have heard of a garden near Elmhurst, Illinois, in which one hundred and eighty different herbs and medicinal shrubs are represented. The owner of this garden revels “in holding and breathing in the scent of tiny sprays of Rue, Rosemary, and Balm. Then, too, there is a wealth of romance in herbs. Back in 1500 Desiderius Erasmus wrote: “To have nothing but Sweet Herbs and those only choice ones, too, and every kind its bed by itself. In those days, of course, and on up to about the middle of the nineteenth century, the growing of herbs was an absolute necessity for practical purposes. Simples (a single herb for a single ailment) were used for cold, backache, headache, earrache, colic, et cetera. Camomile must have been indispensable as the tea made from its leaves quieted baby at night, cured colds, and even prevented bad dreams. Moreover, if placed near a weak, unhappy plant this herb was believed to revive and strengthen the former. Even today the flower heads of Camomile are used in connection with the preparation of a valuable medicine. Balm (melissa officinalis) was used in baths “to warm and comfort the veins and sinewes; for “greene wounds and bee stings; and to annihilate the cares of the mind and troublesome imaginations. All the old recipe books call for herbs of all kinds innumerable times. Pliny mentioned the fact that Rue is used as an ingredient in eighty-four recipes. Rosemary, Thyme, Mint, Fennel, and Caraway were used as spices. Thyme was also rubbed over meat in order to preserve it in those days when there were no refrigerators. Forty'four School of Horticulture A very interesting mediaeval recipe calls for Tansy, Feverfew, Parsley, and violets mixed with eggs, fried in butter, and sprinkled with sugar. This by-gone delicacy may have been quite a favorite dish of some of the most fastidious people. Apart from these practical uses, herbs were also employed for other purposes —love potions, concoctions to clear the wits, and so forth. In fact. Pennyroyal, was given to stupid children in order to make them think more rapidly and accurately. In sunny Italy an offered sprig of Basil is equivalent to a declaration of love. It is said that even today peasant girls wear a bit of this herb in their dark, wavy hair as a coquettish finishing touch when they go to meet their sweethearts. Moreover, Easil is a sacred plant in India, its sanctity being above that of all other herbs. Grandmother was never without this herb as it gave salads and stews a pleasant piquancy. There were separate rules for the planting of each herb. There was also a proper method of harvesting them and in this connection the moon was consulted. Furthermore, each home had what was called a still-room in which the sprigs and seeds were dried and put away for use during the winter months. The seeds and the leaves of some were put into wide-mouthed, air-tight jars, a procedure which is still followed today. Other herbs were tied into bunches and hung in the garret or else kept in the “still-room.” In the castles the preparation and storing of these spices, simples, and so on was not entrusted to the servants, but was done by the mistress and her daughters. Although most of us do not realize it, a great number of herbs are still used for medicinal purposes. However, because they are combined with other substances, entirely new' appellations have been given them. There are also many which are still used in present-day cooking—Anise, Basil (Sweet and Bush), Caraw'ay, Chervil, Chives, Coriander, Sw'eet and Pot Marjoram, Mint, Parsley, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme, and the Savories (summer and winter). Probably herbs are not used as much here in the States as they are abroad. At any rate, it is a fact that there is scarcely a sizable garden in England w'hich does not include at least these few plants. The French evidently raise a great many more as their recipes call for quite a few' herbs not mentioned in this article. Perhaps if we should try some of these herbs—for example. Borage or Basil in our salads; Mint in our jellies, sauces and beverages; Rosemary and Rue as seasonings; and the roots of Caraw'ay for a root vegetable, we might be very well pleased with the resulting dishes. Good cooks never fail to add a bit of Summer Savory and Sw'eet Marjoram to stuffing for roast chicken, nor do they forget to flavor stuffing for ducks and geese with Sage. And, of course, every one knows that all soups should be seasoned with a bit of chopped Parsley, Chives or Thyme. If there is a separate garden allotted to herbs alone, each one should be placed in a neat square or rectangular plot. They should not be arranged in any sort of an irregular, wild or natural effect like flowers. Some herbs can be used as borders, others at the base of a grass plot or against a rock background. Herbs are also very effective in a strip ten feet wide and fifty feet long or longer, according to the amount of space that can be utilized for this purpose. Most herbs will subsist in a poor, gravelly soil. Some, like Sweet Marjoram and Lavender, require a lighter soil. Sage prefers a sunny position and well drained soil. Practically the only tender plants are Summer Savory, Anise, and Basil. These should, therefore, not be planted out until all danger of frost is past. Forty'five W ise-oA cres In this climate it is necessary to protect all but the very hardiest perennials during the winter. They can be covered with leaves or straw held down by sticks in exactly the same way as one would protect an herbaceous border. The following herbs are perennials: Balm, Catnip, Fennel, Hop Vine, Hore-hound, Hyssop, Lavender, Mint, Rosemary, Rue, Sage, Winter Savory, Broaddeaved Sorrel, Tansy, Thyme, and Wormwood. Anise, Sweet Basil, Borage, Coriander, Pennyroyal, Saffron, and Summer Savory are annuals. The few biennials—Caraway, Chervil, Dill, and Sweet Marjoram—are usually treated as annuals. In general, annuals are propagated by seed and perennials by division of seed. Propagation should be done in the spring. Although an annual, Pennyroyal is ordb narily propagated by division. Cuttings can also be made of most herbs for propa-gation. On the whole, herbs require less attention and care than almost any other class of plants. We have a flower garden for the beauty of the flowers; a vegetable garden for the joy of being able to pick fresh vegetables for immediate use. But a truly delight' ful combination of beauty and usefulness can be found in the herb garden. Forty'six School of Horticulture Colour in the Qarden Anne Jelinek MUCH has been written and perhaps much more has been said on the subject of colour in the garden. It is a great mistake, however, to believe that, after having gained a little knowledge of gardening and having got thoroughly thrilled over seed catalogues and even seed sowing, one is capable of creating a garden. After all, there are many differences of opinion about colour schemes and also about combinations of the different plant materials which are used in our gardens. But one may truly say, that one’s chief aim should be when planning and also when planting a garden, to create a garden which strongly marks and serves its pur-pose, namely, a garden of beauty and a garden of harmony. We, in the School at Ambler, try to grow plants and the idea of planting them to their best advantage comes to us as a question which we attempt but sometimes find it hard to answer in our Landscape Design classes. Of course, we have not been gardening long enough to have had much experience, but nevertheless, the constant contact with plant materials, the exercising of one's imagination as to their best use, frequently results in quite a successful creation of a picture painted with the rake and trowel, instead of with paints and brushes, and the background of the picture is the pleasant brown of the soil, numberless hues of green of the trees and the shrubs around, the neutral gray of the buildings and the everlastingly changing sky above. And then, when the actual setting of the picture is coni' plete, the problem of how to mix the different plants, comes forward. Succession of bloom is what most of us desire from a garden. After that, colour harmony and arrangement should follow and be subtly interwoven in the garden design. Colour, from the Garden'designer's point of view ought to be recognized as one of the elements which helps to build up a garden and it is even more important than any artistic or artificial elements such as structures. Plants with their colours ought to be used to soften the definite and sometimes rather hard lines of structures, or in other cases used in such a way as to make them more conspicuous against a given background. Quantities of plants, no matter how well grown they are, do not make a garden. They must be used with the utmost care and must be judiciously selected and with a definite purpose. They ought to be planted so as to make a picture or a series of pictures in which the combination of colours immediately strikes the individual’s artistic sense and is a delight to the eye. No matter how primitive or barbaric the colour combination may be, the effect as a whole should be harmonious. On the other hand, the garden picture should be painted so that in time it may become a source of rest, refreshment, and inspiration. In considering colour combinations we are concerned more with coloured sur faces than with coloured lights and these coloured surfaces are seen close together or in immediate succession. It may be said that pleasure from colours in composition may be derived from colour harmony, balance and colour rhythm, three elements w'hich must be considered in architecture as well as in music and paintings. Many of us wrhen walking through a garden find plants in rather daring combinations and may say that this and that plant should not be planted together because of its unpleasing colour. Almost any colour justifies itself when it is exuberant in quantity, but the liner and softer tones of it make a more pleasing picture in the end. In the planting of a garden or of individual pictures, striking seasonal Forty'sevtn Wise-oAcres effects can be obtained only by using rather large masses of a very limited variety of plants. That does not mean, however, that many kinds of plants in small clumps cannot be used successfully. The individual “pictures in the garden ought to be designed in a fashion, as far as the colours are concerned, so that if the garden is considered as a whole, the colours melt into each other and make a rhyth' mic composition just as in a symphony where each theme is introduced separately and then developed into complex harmonies. Certain colours have the same emotional effect on some people; for instance, reds and orange tints have an exciting effect, while greens are restful, and purples rather inclined to be depressing. Some reds are quite dull as a colour, but as a tint on some plants such as roses or paeonies are quite charming, and if used under the proper angle of lightbeam, would gleam brilliantly. Flowers can be as vehement as one wishes but the green colour of all shades brings them into relation with each other and often in surprising harmony. Yellow can be used quite generously in a garden but should not be mixed with other tints of the same colour. It two flowers of different colours are to be combined, whose colours rather jar, they may be outlined or blended with plants of a secondary colour which coiv tains one or both of the primary colours. Veiled and softened by the distance, by shadows and by surrounding greens, primary colours can be sometimes used tO' gether without disturbance on our part and are also quite favourable from an aesthetic point of view. But it is usually better to harmonize colours in a garden design rather than to make a contrast of them. The cooler colours can be combined more easily than the “hot ones and here are seldom any great mistakes made even when the proportions and the re lations are not quite accurate. Flowers which have a tinge of blue or red or yellow m common, may be used quite safely together and are most likely to give a pleas' ing effect. But to make the harmony of different tints pleasing they must be similar in value, in line and in intensity but still they must be different in some other characteristic such as texture of foliage and habit of growth. Lemon yellow and white have the greatest colour value as they send back all or nearly all the light that the surface can receive. Cooler colours, such as yellow and white, are coiv sidered best for use in long distances as they “carry well. Reds and dark blues on the other hand, cannot be seen at a great distance and therefore should be used in full light and in the foreground. Trees and shrubs in the woods may be regulated so that they make a mass and line in a beautiful form and in a harmonious proportion to the rest of the garden picture. All the degrees of green on trees and shrubs must be considered and the range of colour from yellow to red and brown in autumn, when used as a back' ground. The colour value, texture and habit of each individual plant under a certain angle of light must also be considered when used in combination with others. If plants are used along the shrubbery border, they should be planted in bold groups. Vivid colours may be used very successfully against a variety of textures such as the various shades of green of the selected shrubs. Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) or Lychnis chalcedonica and even Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) and some brightly coloured Lilies may give charming effects in the plant' ing against or with shrubs. Daffodils and Tulips may be used quite effectively in spring and in fall Asters and Goldenrods look well. The seasonal display of plants such as Narcissus, Tulips, Irises, etc., in spring and Asters, Chrysanthemums and Japanese Anemones in autumn gives a unity which cannot be overlooked. During the summer there always is abundance of bloom provided by the noble Delphiniums, graceful Lupins, Forty'eight School of Horticulture Shasta Daisies (Chrysanthemum maximum) and a great number of annual plants of soft although bright colours. As said at the beginning, the rules for planning and planting a garden success' fully cannot be made general. The general colour of the atmosphere, the sky and the climate has to be taken into consideration when planning colour schemes. Care should be taken when using brilliant colours in full sun and then again when pale ones are used in shade. The colour scheme and the “temperament of a garden on the whole differs greatly in North from one in a tropical or subtropical region, where the sky is vivid and the atmosphere clear. Charles Linnaeus The Junior Botany Class HIS PERSONALTY “An interesting looking man entered the room with keen, blue eyes and a calm expression as though he were looking into some interesting world beyond our vision. His clothes were beautiful, but I could remember when he had been a student with scarcely enough to eat and fed his imagination and kept himself alive by living in the land of plants. He was poor, very poor, because he had no one to help him gain his knowledge. The world at large in the eighteenth century did not understand plants and therefore was not interested in them except for food and medicine. The man just described was Linnaeus, the famous Swedish botanist, mineralo' gist, and entomologist of two centuries ago. He was the son of Nils Linnaeus who was the pastor of the parish of Rashult first, and later of Stenbrohult where the family moved when Linnaeus was but a year old. Here Nils Linnaeus, who was a great lover of flowers, had a large garden which was planted with rare shrubs and flowers. It is said that his son, Charles, practically lived in this garden almost from the time he left the cradle, and that flowers were his toys. Therefore, it is little wonder that there was kindled in him that great interest and love of nature that later made him one of the world's outstanding botanists. Even at four years of age Charles showed his intense interest in botany by con' stantly asking his father questions about the flowers in his garden and memorising their long names. At the tender age of eight the father allotted him a piece of ground which he immediately proceeded to turn into a miniature botanical garden in which he had all kinds of delightful things such as weeds, wild bees, and wasps. Much to Charles' distress, however, his father soon put a stop to this particular way of showing his scientific interest. Although Linnaeus did not distinguish himself as a scholar while a student at Wexio everyone spoke well of his good manners and good conduct. Among his fellow students he was called the “Little Botanist because at sixteen he began form-ing a library of botanical books. In 1727 he entered the University of Lund. His light was frequently seen burning into the small hours of the night. A student named Rosen who had formerly been a favorite pupil of the famous Stoboeus was jealous of the favor shown to young Linnaeus. Rosen saw an opportunity to take away some of the glamour that Linnaeus had gained by pointing out the burning candle light to Stoboeus and hint' ing that Linnaeus had fallen into the so'Called lighter vices of drinking and card playing. Stoboeus was somewhat distressed to hear this about his eager, clever, and observing student. Nevertheless he was determined to save him and accordingly Forty'nine Wise-oAcres hurst into his room at eleven o'clock one night. To his surprise he found Linnaeus deeply engrossed in the works of Cacsalpius and Tournefort. After this Stoboeus gave him free access to his library and introduced him to many of his friends. It was the professor's intention to prepare Linnaeus to be his successor but Linnaeus decided that he would prefer to go to the University of Upsala, which he did the following year. While at Upsala Linnaeus had to face poverty, and sometimes even had to accept charity. He earned part of his meals by helping duller pupils. A fellow student writes of him during this period: “Carl, who was proud of his personal appearance and had always taken pains with his dress was now glad to accept the cast-off clothes of his more wealthy companions. Yet, in spite of his lack of money, he made good as a student at Upsala, so good in fact, that Dr. Olaf Celsius, impressed by his knowledge and botanical collections, offered him board and lodging. It was while he was at Upsala that Linnaeus became enamoured of the daughter of Dr. Moreus but since he did not have the means with which to support a wife Dr. Moreus would not accept him as a suitable suitor for his daughter's hand. In order to better his condition, Linnaeus went to the University of Harderwich in Holland to obtain a medical degree and incidentally became acquainted with Holland's foremost scientists. After leaving Holland, Linnaeus visited England. He was at first received rather coldly but as he became better acquainted the coldness vanished and he made many warm friends. The professor who held the chair of botany at Oxford became so attached to him that he offered to share the chair with him but Linnaeus preferred to return to his own country. He set up his practice as a physician in Stockholm. At this time he wrote to a friend: “I am undeservedly got into so much practice that from seven o'clock in the morning until eight in the evening I have not even time to take a short dinner. He was also appointed physician to the navy with a fixed salary. Dr. Moreus now no longer had any objection to Linnaeus and accordingly on the twenty-sixth of June, 1739, Sara Elizabeth Moreus and Charles Linnaeus were married. One account states that Linnaeus had rather an unhappy married life because his wife proved to be selfish, domineering, and unable to hold any conversation in decent company. Another account places the blame on Linnaeus, stating that scientific men have an unfortunate way of expanding themselves about the premises until there is no place left to sit down upon so that Mrs. Linnaeus probably often had much reason to be irritated. Linnaeus coveted the botanical chair at Upsala as he was eager to teach his favorite science in the halls where he himself had been taught and which he had so often entered with boyish awe. Accordingly, when Rudbeck died, Linnaeus offered himself as a candidate for the position which was thus left open. However, he was disappointed as the university board was opposed to his success and therefore chose his former rival, Dr. Rosen. It is interesting to note that one year later Linnaeus was appointed to the chair of medicine and by private arrangement effected an exchange with Dr. Rosen. This gave Linnaeus complete charge of the department of natural history and made him superintendent of the botanic gardens. Linnaeus was an extremely popular professor. He drew students to him not only because of his vast fund of knowledge but equally as much by his attractive personality. He loved jocularity, conviviality, and good living. He was a most entertaining conversationalist as he had a vast fund of original anecdotes. Linnaeus was also something of a philosopher. All men in prominent positions whether they be scientific, political, or literary are subject to a great deal of Fifty School of Horticulture criticism and Linnaeus was not excluded. He writes as follows to Haller, one of his most severe German critics: “The more errors of my own that you can point out, the more I shall be obliged to you. By such means I may be enabled to correct all that is wrong before I die for no one can amend his own ways in the grave. As a teacher he was of great influence in revolutionizing the method of botanical study. He reared his students in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and trained them to be close and accurate observers. In the summer, botanical excursions were taken into the field and woods. The students were divided into small parties which ex' plored in different directions. When any new plant or natural curiosity was dis' covered a signal was given with a horn or trumpet and the whole company stopped and joined their teacher at the point where the discovery was made to listen to his remarks. These expeditions usually started at seven in the morning and continued until nine in the evening after which the party would pass through the streets of Upsala in festive procession with flowers in their hats, music of drums and trumpets, and many specimens collected on the day’s outing. Linnaeus' fame as a teacher spread as far as Spain. He was asked by that country's monarch to come there to teach. Linnaeus, however, refused this great honor and sent one of his pupils instead (a practice which he frequently followed in similar cases), saying that if he had anything worthwhile to give he would give it to his own beloved Sweden. When Linnaeus died in 1778 he was mourned by people in all countries and received tribute from more than one monarch. But probably the greatest tribute of all was that paid to him by his own king when he said: “I shall never forget those marks of attachment which I received at the Uni' versity of Upsala when I mounted the throne. There I founded a new chair -but also, I have lost a man whose renown filled the universe and whom Sweden will ever be proud to number among her children. Long will this ancient city remember him who bears the name of Linnaeus. We may summarize his achievements in the following statements: 1. He summarized and systematized the results of his predecessors' labors in the three kingdoms of nature. 2. He originated binary nomenclature for organisms and made his system uni' versal by using Latin names and endings. 3. He made an artificial classification of plants based on the stamens and pistils which, though artificial, was a vast improvement on the botany preceding his age which had practically no taxonomy. 4. He left a fragment of a natural system which was of great value to later botanists. 5. Students crowded to the university to hear him and then went all over the world discovering thousands of specimens which were sent to their teacher for identification. 6. He influenced modern systematology in that he placed the generic name at the head of the description and the specific name in the margin with von Linne 7. His descriptions were concise and accurate. Linnaeus retarded progress in the following directions: 1. He actively upheld the doctrine of the constancy of species. 2. He attachel little importance to morphology. Hinda Smith, Theodora Wenz, Elizabeth Lansing, Sue Arrington Fifty'One W ise-oA cres oAnnuals L. K. Herring DEFINITION. All annual is an herbaceous plant which completes its life history in one season, that is to say, it grows, flowers, forms seeds, and dies within the year. The term is sometimes extended in gardening to include perennial plants, such as Antirrhinum, that arc not hardy enough to survive the winter. As a rule, these plants have a longer season of bloom than the majority of the true annuals and are therefore extremely useful. Soil. Annuals have no particular requirements as to soil. They do not like extreme types such as pure clay or sand. Such soil must be gi,ren the special treat' merit necessary. For example, lime, sand, manure, or humus should be added to clay, and manure, and heavy loam to the sand. Any good, well cultivated garden soil will grow good annuals. On the lighter types germination will be easier, but the plants will suffer more easily from dry weather and therefore may not grow so well. On the heavier types they will not germinate so well but will probably make more vigorous plants. Soil Preparation. The soil should be thoroughly prepared by double digging, preferably in the autumn. Manure should be added at that time—stable manure if the ground lacks humus, or sheep manure if stable manure cannot be procured. If the soil has been heavily manured in previous years, bone-meal can be used instead; if it lacks lime, bone-meal can be used at the same time as the stable manure or sheep manure, but not actually in contact with it. Apply at the rate of 6-8 lbs. per square yard. Fork over the ground in the spring to let sun and air into the surface. Break it up finely to create a good surface tilth. If it is hard and lumpy add compost or w(X)d ashes. It is most important to get a g(X)d seed bed. Position. The position for annuals should be open, away from the drip and rmts of trees, and should be mostly sunny. They can be grown in a special garden, in a border, or in patches in other flower borders. Propogation. Annuals are mostly raised from seeds. The true annuals cannot, with very few exceptions, be propagated in any other way as they do not make enough reserve material for any vegetative method such as cuttings. For the others, seed is in most cases the easiest method. Seed can be sown either in permanent quarters out of doors or in boxes in frames or greenhouses to be transplanted later. Sowing under shelter gives a longer season of growth and therefore, in most cases, larger plants. Some do not transplant well and thus get a check on being set out from which they do not easily recover. Time of Sowing. The time of sowing does not affect the season of blooming of the true annuals as much as the size of the plant. If sown later they will shorten their growth period and flower at their proper season unless well watered or kept moist by rain. This is not so true of the so-called annuals. The least hardy or those that require a longer season of growth are sown indoors in February or March. The most hardy are sown outside about the middle of April, the rest after May first. Method of Sowing Indoors. Take clean, shallow boxes; put drainage in the bottom; fill up to within half an inch of the top with fine, good soil. Press moderately firmly but do not tamp too hard. Unless the soil is very moist, water the boxes before sowing. Scatter the seed thinly, cover lightly with soil, place a sheet of glass over the box, and put paper on top. Turn or wipe the glass daily to prevent drip from the water condensed on it. Remove both paper and glass as soon as the seedlings show. Fifty'two School of Horticulture Temperatures from 55 degrees to 75 degrees F. can be given. At the lower ones germination will be slow while at the higher ones there is danger of weakening and damping off. Probably between 60 and 70 degrees is safest. Outdoors. Rake the patch to be sown evenly, breaking up all lumps and re' moving stones. Draw the surface soil aside to the depth of half an inch or more in the case of large seeds, scatter the seed thinly, and, draw the earth carefully back from the edges of the patch covering the seed evenly and smoothly. Pricking Out. Seedlings should be pricked out from the seed boxes when they have their first rough leaves Prepare the boxes as for sowing; handle the plants gently and quickly and place moderately firmly in holes made with a label or small dibber. Water and shade until established. Hardening Off. Before planting seedlings in the open ground they must be hardened off. Transfer the boxes from the house to frames at first keeping the sashes on and then removing them by degrees until the plants are accustomed to the colder conditions. Transplanting. Choose, if possible, a grey day before or after rain for trans' planting. If the weather is hot and sunny do the work in the evening, if dry, water the soil the day previously. Lift the plants out with plenty of soil on their roots and make the holes large enough to hold them comfortably. Plant firmly. Do not bury or set up on hills. Shade, until they recover, with flower pots or evergreen twigs. Heavy watering chills the soil and is therefore not so effective. Thinning. Seedlings germinated in the open ground must be thinned out as soon as they are large enough to handle. Choose a grey or damp day as the remaining plants will then suffer less from disturbance. Give each plant room to develop. One single, well branched plant will yield many more flowers than one made spindly by over-crowding. It is hard to learn to throw away the surplus ones but it must be done. Self sown seedlings so often do better than the others because they have light and air on all sides and can branch and bloom freely. Staking. Annuals are often battered by wind and thunderstorms. A little support will prevent this. Short pea sticks or the worn ends of old birch brooms placed among! the seedlings when quite tiny, will be completely covered as the plants grow and will give the necessary support. Large plants, such as cosmos, must be staked individually. In every case the staking should be inconspicuous. Summer Care. Dead flowers should be cut off, else the plant will go to seed and stop blooming. Feed occasionally with weak liquid manure when the ground is moist. This can be made from stable or sheep manure or from chemical fertilizers. Dissolve Vi oz. of sulphate of potash, Vi oz. sulphate of ammonia, Vi oz. acid phosphate in one gallon of water and apply to one square yard. The same combination may be scattered dry over one square yard and hoed or watered in. Keep the surface soil open and free from weeds by the constant use of a hoe or small border fork. Water thoroughly, soaking the ground to a depth of several inches once a week. Do not spray lightly overhead daily and feel that you have watered your plants. Hoe after watering to create a surface mulch which will conserve the moisture. Planning. Always draw a plan to scale before attempting to sow or plant out in permanent positions. Consider the height of the plants, their season of bloom, colour, habit. Try to avoid the occurrence of gaps caused by several plants dying at the same time. Arrange in groups and not as single, isolated specimens. These groups should be more or less rectangular, not queer irregular shapes dovetailing into one another like Fifty'threc Wise-oAcres a jigsaw puzzle. In this way they will be clearly defined and the informal habit of the plants will prevent a too stiff effect. Colour Combinations. The arrangement of the plants depends to some extent on the position, whether in an annual bed, an annual garden, or in an herbaceous border. In either of these cases one could try to get the effect of a mixed bouquet of flowers. Each group should be self coloured, not mixed, else the whole effect will be muddled. Neighboring groups can be harmonized or contrasted. Blues, pinks, purples, orange, yellow, and cream are easy to mix. Reds of all shades are hard to place and should be left out or used very sparingly. They, with the orange tones, are best for autumn effects and are then very welcome. The other colours give more pleasure in the summer. In an annual garden of definite design the annuals could be planted in a more formal arrangement and by repeating certain plants can be used to accentuate the design. It is even more imperative here that the individual groups be self coloured. The informal habit of the plants prevents a too formal result, although this type of arrangement rather limits the choice of species and colours. When annuals are planted in other borders, the colours must be blended according to the general character of the bed. They can be planted among bulbs or other early flowering plants. It is not necessary here to give a long list of annuals with colours and descriptions as these can be obtained from catalogues. However, I think it might be helpful to group some of them according to the treatment required. The following annuals should be sown outside as early as possible as they do not transplant well: Candytuft, Cornflower, Eschscholtzia, Shirley Carnation, Paeony Poppies. Calendula, Alyssum, Lupin and Nigella are very hardy and can be sown very early. However, these will transplant so they can be sown in boxes indoors if it is found more convenient. Antirrhinums should be sown indoors in January or February. The majority of the plants suitable can be sown indoors early in March or outdoors in late April or early May. Mignonette should be sown where it is to bloom. It likes firm soil with the addition of a little lime. The following annuals are not very well known but are worth trying as they all do well in the garden here: Cynoglossum amabile, Torenia fournieri, Viscaria oculata coerulae, Virginian Stock. Fifty-four School of Horticulture The Carc °f the Small Orchard F. A. Bertermann Many small gardens or estates have only a few fruit trees and small fruits which, with a little care, can become a great source of pleasure from early April when they are one mass of pink, white, and green—one of the reminders that spring has really come- -until October, when their luscious fruit tells us winter is near. When setting out young trees or bushes the soil should be well prepared the season previous to planting. Select a spot where there is good drainage. Fork or plow in some farmyard manure unless the soil is very poor. In the latter case, the better course is to sow a cover crop -some crop such as buckwheat, vetch or clover —and plow this under the following year. Humus in the soil is important because it makes the soil lighter and more porous and provides food for the young trees. A generous handful of bone-meal placed several inches below the roots at the time of planting also helps to insure the good growth of the new trees. Planting should be done in the spring and one or two year old stock should be used. Before proceeding to the individual care of fruits, it will be helpful to explain some of the terms used in pruning. A tree has two types of branches—terminals or central limbs and laterals which are the side branches proceeding from the terminals. Heading consists in cutting off all the branches which are sent out from the trunk lower than desired. Centering consists in opening the center of the tree so sunlight may enter. The modified leader type of centering consists in partially cutting out the central terminal or leader, as it is commonly called. The open center type of pruning consists in cutting out all of the leader. All pruning should be done while the trees are dormant. THE TREE FRUITS The apple—Soil rather heavy but well drained, heading IS to 30 ; centering modified leader. Cut out all crossing branches. Fruit borne on spurs, therefore do not tip branches in pruning, and pick fruit carefully to avoid breaking the spurs. Varieties: Sweet Bough—early, yellow; Red Astrachan—mid-season, red; McIntosh —late, fine quality. The cherry—Soil, medium. Cherries requires cross pollinating therefore, always plant at least two varieties near each other. Sour cherry—heading, 18 to 24 ; centering, open or modified leader. Sweet cherry—heading, 24 to 30 ; centering, modified leader. Varieties: Black Tartarian large, purplish black; Yellow Spanish large, yellow; Windsor—medium, late, black. The peach—Soil, sandy; heading 6 to 18 ; centering, open; Tip back all the main laterals to two or three year old wood. Cut out crossing limbs. Varieties: Greensboro—early, white, semi-cling; Carman mid-season, white, freestone; Elberta -—mid-season, yeilow, free-stone; Hale—late, yellow, free-stone. The pear- Soil rather heavy; cross pollination necessary; heading, 18 ; centering, modified leader; prune very lightly as the succulent growth is very easily attacked by fire-blight. Varieties: Bartlett best quality pear on the market; Bose like Bartlett but not so subject to fire-blight; Seckel—late, small, sweet; Kiejfer late, heavy bearer, very hardy, poor quality. The plum- Soil, medium. Japanese—heading, 6 to 8 ; centering, open. European- heading, 18 to 24 ; centering, modified leader. The Japanese varieties may he pruned heavily to give better and larger fruit. Varieties: Bradshaw—bright purplish red; Fellenburg or prune—purplish black; Green Gage—late. Spraying is practiced in all commercial orchards and should be practiced on Fifty'five Wise-oAcres estates not only to insure better fruits for the grower but also to help neighboring orchardists in the fight to control fruit diseases and pests in our country. If all fruit trees in this country were consistently sprayed for a period of five years, prac-tically all diseases and pests would have disappeared. Knowing that home orchard species are usually not composed of only one fruit specie, we are including a combination schedule suitable for spraying a mixed orchard. When the trees bearing drupe fruits are still dormant and when the pomes are just beyond that stage, one part of hydrated lime to eight parts of finely divided sulphur in fifty gallons of water should be applied. When the shucks of drupes are falling and pomes are in the calyx stage lime sulphur in an 8-8-50 ratio should be applied. The same material in the same ratio should be applied once or twice more if neces-sary. In the third application, if pear blight, bitter rot of apple, or apple blotch are present Bordeaux mixture at the rate of six parts of copper sulphate to three parts of lime to fifty gallons of water should be used instead of lime sulphur. Insects, except aphid, are controlled by lead arsenate used at the rate of one and a quarter pounds to 50 gallons of water. If fruit fly or coddling moth are present the amount of arsenate should be doubled. Aphid is controlled by Black Leaf 40 (£4 pint to 50 gallons of spray). Both of these insecticides may be added to the lime sulphur or Bordeaux mixture. Heavy scale infestations can only be controlled by an oil emulsion. This should be applied while the trees are dormant. SMALL FRUITS Grapes—During the first three or four years it is more important to develop a heavy stock than a heavy crop. After the stock is well developed grapes should be pruned each year during the dormant season. There are many ways to prune grapes but it must always be remembered that it is the new wood which bears the fruit. Do not allow the canes to become too numerous—from four to six canes which are from 36 to 40 long are enough for one stock. Cultivation is much simplified and cleaner fruit is obtained if these canes are trained on wires, stretched between posts. Varieties: Moore's Early—black; Winchel—early, green; Worden— black, early; Delaware—mid-season, red; Concord mid-season, black; Niagara— mid-season, green; Catawba, late, red. Strawberries—Place plants eighteen inches apart and rows four feet apart. Plant firmly, covering all the roots but not the crown. Mulch the beds with straw as soon as ground is frozen and remove part of it in the spring leaving enough to preserve the soil moisture in order that cultivation will not be necessary until after bearing. After they have finished bearing, cultivate with a hoe or horse. Fertilize with chicken manure if necessary. Renew the beds whenever the quality and amount of fruit begins to decrease (usually every second or third year). Varieties: Excelsior—early; William Belt—mid-season; Chesapeake—does not have spreading habit, therefore plant rows only one foot apart; Gandy—requires heavy soil. Blackberries and blac raspberries When canes are two feet high pinch out tips to induce the development of laterals. Each year after bearing cut out old canes. Blackberry varieties: Eldorado, early; Snyder, mid-season; Taylor, late. Black raspberry varieties: Kansas, early; Black Diamond, mid-season; Honeysweet —late. Red raspberries—Remove all old canes after harvest. In the spring tip back canes of the rank growing varieties to four feet. Varieties: Perfection, early; Marlboro, early; St. Regis, ever-bearing; Herbert, mid-season; Cuthbert, hfp Gooseberries and currants- Remove shoots more than three years old. Do not tip. Currant varieties: Perfection, mid-season; Cherry, mid-season; White Imperial, mid-season; Wilde, late. Gooseberry varieties: Industry, red; Downing, pale green. Fifty-six School of Horticulture The Qare and Arrangement of Qut Flowers Anne B. Werstner IN THE arrangement of cut flowers individual taste plays such a large part that the results cannot please all alike. However, there are certain principles which are generally conceded to be effective and it is some of these that I shall endeavor to give you in this article. If you will observe flowers in nature during the growing season you will notice that practically all are combined with green. The amount of green varies with the type of bloom. Suppose that Nature had bedecked the stately iris with the profu-sion of green of the peony and that gorgeous flower had been set among the straight and sparse foliage of the iris. At once you are struck with the crudeness, the utter ineffectiveness of such a combination. This, then, brings us to our first general principle in arranging cut flowers. Whenever possible combine the bloom with the foliage Nature intended for it and vary the amount in the same proportion that she has. Sometimes it is impossible to use the foliage which grows with the flower. Then we must imitate it as closely as possible in amount, in texture, and even in shade of green. In winter, especially, it is often impossible to obtain the natural green. Asparagus fern is used to a great extent among florists because it is available but often other ferns or Stevia can be used much more effectively. Asparagus fern should never be used with roses. In the spring many shrubs will supply the needed green. Hedge clippings which are often thrown away are very useful for this purpose. Our second principle, too, may be learned from nature. Never mix field or wild flowers with hot-house flowers. They do not grow that way and each kind is much prettier by itself. The choice of color combinations is so much a matter of personal taste that little can be said authoritatively. Someone has said that no mixed bouquet is com-plete without yellow and certainly it is one of the most pleasing colors. It is warm, alive, and not disappointing under artificial light as are many blues, pinks, and violets. Orange is similar to yellow in its effect although somewhat warmer. A lovely combination may be arranged of yellow or orange calendulas with light and dark blue delphiniums. Or, for a most effective study in contrast, arrange a bowl of calendulas with a bit of ageratum at one side. Many people think red and yellow should not be mixed and yet these two colors can usually be combined most effectively. It is true that yellow daffodils and red carnations would give a most bizarre effect but red and yellow poppies and blue corn-flowers in a black bowl are an excellent combination. Yellow daisies or yellow privet may be used instead of the yellow poppies. Pinks and blues form a dainty, cool combination. Arrange some pink snapdragons and a few sprays of delphinium with just a touch of pale yellow in a blue bowl and you will have a truly delightful combination. Pink roses and pale yellow or pink snapdragons with a single delphinium in the center make another most attractive arrangement. White is very pleasing both in combination and when used alone. It may be used either to tone down a vivid bouquet or to brighten a dull one. Roses are probably the most popular of all flowers and, as they bloom throughout the year, are constantly used for decoration. The ramblers are among the first to flower and can always be used as cut flowers by themselves. In combination, Fi fy-scven W ise-oA cres Tausendschoen, Dorothy Perkins, and Caroline Testout may be used effectively. Although ramblers may be used with bush roses of the same color they are more attractive used alone. Bush roses may be used either singly or in bouquets. Orange, yellow, white, and red roses make a pleasing combination. The richness of the red in an arrange' ment of red roses is accentuated by just a hint of yellow. This effect may be pro-duced by placing a few spikes of the bee variety of delphinium at the center of the arrangement, the touch of blue added by the delphinium increasing the effect. Deb phinium (Belladonna) also enhances a combination of pink roses and pale yellow or pink snapdragons or butterfly bush. A few sprays of spirea make another effec' tive arrangement with roses. Gladioli are most beautiful alone. In order to arrange the leaves of gladioli near the flower cut the stem just above the leaf and below at a length which will bring it to the proper height. Iris are also most lovely although when only a few spikes are used a pale yellow snapdragon adds much to the effect. Pansies are usually hard to arrange. Long'Stemmed, yellow pansies are very lovely with blue sweet peas either around the peas or at one side. Small sprays of forsythia make a very attractive center for dark or mixed pansies. Short'Stemmed pansies should be placed in a bowl by themselves. Almost as important as the flowers is the container and their arrangement in it. In the first place never, never over-crowd the bowl or vase. The effectiveness of the most successful combination is entirely lost if this much too common fault is committed. Flowers do not grow huddled together. Therefore, if we want to enjoy the beauty of each individual bloom in our cut flower arrangements we must give them the room Nature would give them. It is always more artistic to have the flower stems of different lengths. Twisted or crooked stems often give a more natural and artistic effect than straight ones. The size and shape of the container is determined not only by the type of flower but also by the purpose for which the bouquet is intended. An arrangement for a dining-room table should always be low enough that guests seated opposite each other can carry on a conversation without being forced either to peep at each other from under the foliage or strain their necks to look over or around it. Flowers that wilt quickly, for example, stocks, poppies, and mignonette should be placed in a vase unless they are being used for immediate effect when a bowl may be used. Snapdragons are most handsome in a tall vase although very pleasing arrangements may be made in a bowl if a flower holder is used. Calendulas are most attractive in a dark, dull bowl; nasturtiums are never more charming than in just an ordinary brown bowl; and for a truly charming effect arrange zinnias or cosmos in a pewter pitcher. In choosing a container do not forget to consider its color. Silver or glass can be used with any color; pinks, blues, and yellows usually look best in blue bowls; oranges and reds in black bowls; and pinks in green bowls. Almost anyone has observed how flowers change the entire atmosphere of a room but have you ever noticed how the effect varies with the type of flower used A dark corner is brightened by a light colored flower while a light room lends beauty to dark colored flowers. How attractive is a vase with a few stalks of Hemerocallis (yellow day lily) or Azalea calendulaceae or of vivid oriental poppies in a dark Fifty-eight School of Horticulture corner and how lovely deep red ones in a light one! Or note the atmosphere of warmth and welcome that is added to a drawing-room in autumn by a bowl of brilliant dahlias, in April by a vase of narcissus and pussy willows or in winter by a bowl of red berries. Blue is a cool color and therefore looks well in a south room while oranges and yellows because of their warmth do much to cheer up a north room. Flowers in the garden are such lovely things it seems cruel to cut them from their stalks unless we are willing to do all we can to retain all of their fresh beauty as long as possible. It is best to cut flowers either early in the morning or early evening, never during the heat of the day. Gladioli should be cut in the late afternoon and allowed to lie in the sun for about fifteen minutes before placing them in water. Peonies should be cut when just ready to open and gladioli when the color begins to show. It is most essential to keep air away from cut flower stems to prevent wilting. Most flowers need not be placed in water until after one has returned to the house but the only successful way to keep poppies is to carry a small bucket of water with you while cutting and plunge them immediately. When the flowers have been cut remove all foliage up to three or four inches from the base of the stem. With very leafy flowers such as calendulas part of the foliage should be removed all the way up the stem. After the leaves have been removed the flowers should be set in water as hot as the hand can stand for fifteen minutes to expel all air from the stem. Then immerse them in cold water up to the necks before arranging in bowls or vases. Peonies should be left in a cool, dark room one day before arranging. Woody stems should be split at the base before they are placed in water to give a larger absorbing area. The lower portion of the stems of dahlias, roses, and chrysanthemums should be scraped before placing in water. Special treatment should be given to flowers which are to be shipped. They should remain in the cold water immersion for at least three hours. Eight hours is not too long. They should be kept in a cool and preferably dark place. Just before shipping spray the flowers with a very fine spray. Shrubs or any flowers with woody stems can be kept fresh during shipment by sticking the stem into a potato. Cut flowers, to be kept fresh after they have been arranged in bowls or vases, must receive some attention each day. A small portion of the stem should be cut off, they should be given fresh water, and all dead flowers should be removed. When they are beginning to fade their life may be prolonged by giving another hot water treatment after removing a few more leaves, and cutting off a portion of the stem. An aspirin tablet or some other stimulant may also be added to the water. Flowers laid on the banquet table for decorative purposes will keep fresh throughout the meal if they have been treated with hot water and then kept in cold water in a cool place for several hours. They may also be stuck in molding clay. If a central floral arrangement is used on such a table wet spaghnum moss or sand placed in the bowl will be found much more convenient for arranging the flowers than the ordinary flower holder. Fifty'nine W ise-oA eves qA Hive for the Honey ’Hee Nancy S. Webster I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree And a small cabin build there of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee And live alone in the bee loud glade. Such is the dream of most of us, a hive for the honey bee,” and we either have bees or we don't have bees. There are a few fundamental nd many fascinating discoveries that make beekeeping a real joy and a remunerative pastime. Bees are natural and like sunshine in moderation so that shade in the middle of the day is most acceptable. Under a fruit tree is an ideal place, but other trees, shrubbery, board fences, walls, and buildings are all good as windbreaks. It is essential that the hive face south or west and that it be protected from the prevail' ing winds. The hive is the home of the bee and is raised from the ground about six inches on either a wooden or concrete frame. The two main divisions of the hive are the brood chamber and the super, so called because it is above the hive proper and in it the bees store the superabundance of honey. The queen is kept in the brood chamber and the brood is reared there. The size and shape of the super depends on the kind of honey wanted—extracted or comb honey. The super for comb honey is about a third the size of that required for extracted. The frames must be replaced each year, an added expense. The comb is made of wax and for the production of a pound of wax the bees must consume 15 pounds of honey, which otherwise would be surplus. Comb honey also depends more on the season as it is during the warm nights that the bees secrete most of the wax and build the comb. Then, too, the section of the frames must be full and well sealed or they are not presentable for sale. One advantage of comb honey is that there is apt to be honey left in the hnx)d chamber and the bees therefore do not have to be fed during the winter. The extracted honey is easier to produce can be done with less expense, is easier to handle for market, and hence is used conv mercially. The queen, and an Italian one is best, is the mother of the whole hive, and she influences the activities of the colony to a large extent. Her one and only purpose in life is to lay eggs and keep the colony populated. The queen's abdomen is larger than that of the worker but not so great in circumference as that of the drone. Her whole body is longer than that of either of the others and her wings are shorter in proportion. The queen’s sting is curved and seldom used except on a rival queen. Normally there is only one queen in the hive, but if she is getting old (six or seven years) the workers develop one or several. If only one, she whips the old queen, but if there is more than one it is the principle of the survival of the fittest that rules. Like any other colony it is essential that the bees have a good queen, for as the queen is, so is the rest of the colony. If anything should happen to her the bees Sixty School of Horticulture build queen cells, which are larger than worker cells, over a worker egg. A queen is hatched from the same kind of egg as a worker, and therefore it is usually the workers which determine whether a queen or an ordinary bee shall be developed. Three days later, the egg hatches into a larvae, which is fed on royal jelly, a rich, milky, chyle food, supposed to be pollen and honey partly digested. A queen larvae is kept on this rich food while after three days any other larvae would be put on a coarser ration. Thus the bees can produce a queen from larvae not over three days old. There are four stages in the development of a bee, egg, larvae, pupae and adult. It takes a queen cell sixteen days, drone twenty-four days and a worker twenty-one days. The drone's only function in life is to fertilise the queen, and then he lives by the workers' toiling, as he gathers no honey and secretes no wax. He is larger and clumsier than the workers and his wings extend the length of his body. He has no sting. When on the wing the amount of noise he makes exceeds that of any other member of the hive to his evident satisfaction, as his bussing is incessant. The worker is an imperfect female and like the Indian squaw does all the work: gathers the nectar, feeds the larvae, caps the cells, cleans the hive, and stands guard at the door. These workers literally kill themselves for those hatched in the spring—the rush season for the colony live only fifty or sixty days. Those emerging in the autumn may live six months. Now that wc have the hive and its inmates, which number from thirty to fifty thousand, let us briefly run over some of Professor Karl von Frisch's experiments and researches some of which are bound to raise animated discussions and all of which will be most interesting for us bee keepers as they make the bee seem almost human. He says that the bee is affected by colour in much the same manner that a color-blind human being is. Bright red, and particularly scarlet, are black to the bee and orange appears as dark yellow. The bee is definitely attracted by a pure yellow, as the yellow of a buttercup, while blue is its favorite colour. It also seems that the bee can distinguish certain ultra-violet colours, to which the human eye does not react. Bright lines or spots or dark backgrounds, such as the wild pansy, form beautiful and natural sign posts for the bees and it is a strange coincidence that they bloom only in the day time. The memory of odours also means much to the bee, and hence the knowledge of smell is the principal means of communication among the bees in the hive. Sentry duty is the last office held by a bee in the hive before it becomes a field bee. Early and late the bees guard the entrance, controlling every incoming bee with their feelers and wings, and an unwelcome one is attacked. When at last the bee does become a field worker it collects either honey or pollen but never both—how the choice or decision is made as to which should be collected has not yet been found out. Professor von Frisch further states, that the honey gatherers give their store to those just inside the hive and they store it away, but that the pollen gatherers take their own store directly to a cell, sometimes looking in several before they find a suitable one, and then they stroke the two little drawers” of pollen off their hind legs. Sixty-o i i W ise-oA cres The bees practice a definite scouting system. If the honey at a given source becomes low the bees come less and less but from time to time one of them returns to see if it shows signs of increase. These scouts are not specially appointed. Each individual seeks according to her own keenness. Hence seme return once, others a number of times. When the honey gatherer returns to the hive and gives her store to those which meet her just within the hive, she starts to dance and as she dances, by a tail wragging movement, she rubs her pollen baskets on the faces and outstretched feelers of the onlookers. The pollen of each flower has its peculiar smell and it is often quite different from the perfume of the petals. The bees w'hich have received the pollen, in turn fly to the source of the nectar, visiting only the plant “said” to have it, and searching until they find the most abundant store. If a poor store is found the bees do not dance, but if a scentless flower with a goodly store is found the bee pushes out as it flies or sips a small organ containing glands located in a pocket of skin at the rear end of the abdomen, w'hich serves as a miniature scent factory. It give off a strong fruity scent, discernible by the human nose, and attracts bees from a great distance. Sixty'tivo School of Horticulture Wood, a Farm CroP George H. Wirt THE production of farm crops is the greatest industry in America. The business depends, however, upon resources which are little understood, namely productive power of the soil, and the productive power of plant life. However,, careful observations and experiments have opened and are opening possibilities little dreamed of a half century ago. Science in agriculture, as in other industries, is demanding atten-tion, and it is being demonstrated every day that scientific management on a farm pays large profits. But the term “science scares most of us. “Good judgment and “common sense” are more familiar, notwithstanding the fact both may be the result of much science. Every farmer has some kind of plan for the arrangement and management of his farm. The application of the principles of good engineering and scientific management (good judgment) to the farm will make a more economical and a more profitable plan than the usual hit or miss one handed down for generations. The soil will be used to better advantage or it will be adapted to the crops to which it is most suited. The fertility will be increased instead of depleted and the whole arrangement will be planned to secure the greatest economy in operation. Every farm should have its wooded areas and most farms do. Therefore, no plan of farm management which does not include in its arrangements the development and care of woodlands is complete. If such woodlands already exist, and are properly located then they should be made to produce the best possible crop of wood. If they are not properly located, or do not exist, then plans should immediately be made for starting a wooded area in a convenient location. President Coolidge stated in his 1927 Forest Week Proclamation: “Agriculture would find in silviculture a strong ally, providing markets for farm produce and for surplus labor. Our farms themselves contain nearly a third of our woodland—an enormous potential farm asset if handled for continuous timber crops. With widespread forest culture, new wealth would spring up for the support of roads, schools, and local government and rural regions would enjoy a larger share of the National prosperity. The Secretary of Agriculture, Wm. M. Jardine, recently said, “Timber culture must become woven into the traditions of farm practice. Let us consider a few practical reasons why these statements seem to be in line with good judgment and common sense. Best USE of land. On practically every farm there are soil differences which arc plainly apparent. Some soils respond to ordinary farm practice with profitable results. They yield the highest returns from labor, fertilizer, seed, and cultivation. With more concentrated efforts their production may be very greatly increased. On the other hand, there may be, and probably are, some places where the soil is only moderately fertile or even poor. Farming is difficult, crops are meager and either scarcely pay for what has been expended upon them or represent a loss. Why farmers persist in wasting their efforts on' such areas is hard to understand unless it is that they do not know what their farms will do for them. If trees would be planted on all soils which are too sandy, clayey, wet, steep, rocky or shallow for agricultural crops, every square foot of the farm would be utilized to the owner's profit. Then, too, springs and the banks of streams should be protected by wooded areas, inconvenient corners should be rounded out with trees, and areas or strips subject to erosion should be tree covered or protected by wooded areas. Moisture supply. Every farmer knows that a sufficient and constant supply Sixtythree W se-oA cres of moisture is essential for profitable food crops. The average rainfall in our part of the country is sufficient to produce bountiful crops if the moisture is conserved. Unfortunately surface run-off and evaporation are two factors which cause a tre-mendous water loss. Whatever can be done to reduce their effects is worth considering, unless it is cheaper to provide additional moisture by some form of irrigation. Usually the latter is the more expensive proposition although it, too, may be used to advantage even in our so-called limited climate. On gentle slopes of poor soil trees with their roots and mulch will help materially to retard surface run-off, giving the water a chance to seep into the ground and to increase the underground water supply. This raises the general level of the water table or increases the supply available to plant roots. Evaporation is almost a constant robber of the farmer's water supply. It is brought about by a very well known law, that the air at a given temperature will absorb a certain amount of moisture and continues to absorb it until the saturation point is reached. When the air becomes saturated and its temperature falls but slightly precipitation follows. Dry air, therefore, takes moisture from soil, plants, and water. The more rapidly the air changes over a given spot the more moisture is taken up and carried away. It follows, therefore, that the quieter dry air can be kept over growing crops on warm or hot dry days the less the water loss will be. This is a well-recognized fact on the prairies. Wind-breaks are common and essential helps to farming of all kinds. In the eastern part of the United States there should be more wind-breaks on the farms. These are made of strips of trees several rods wide running at right angles to the direction of the prevailing winds. Such wind-breaks are credited with saving from 10 per cent, to 40 per cent, of the available moisture supply with consequent proportional increase in crop production. Frequently these strips for wind-breaks can be located on the poorer or rougher areas of soil but even if they cannot be, experience seems to show that it pays to even use good soil for this purpose. On the other hand, it is a well-known fact that on wet, level areas trees not only will thrive well but also will tend to lower the water level in soils almost or continuously saturated. Another advantage to food crops is the fact that trees transpire large quantities of moisture. It has been found that an acre of forest gives off into the air from the leaves an amount of moisture almost equal to the amount evaporated from an equal area of open water. This natural condition means that a wooded area to the windward of a food crop not only reduces the evaporation that would otherwise take place from the soil occupied by the crop but actually increases the moisture of the air blowing over it. Many other advantages might be discussed but we must pass on to a few suggestions as to how to get the most service from an existing woodlot. Every foot of soil must be kept busy. A tree crop is the crystallization of sunshine, air, and water. On the average there is a more or less equal amount of sunshine and air available for each acre of soil each year. The quantity of water varies somewhat, particularly during the growing season. The amount of wood produced, therefore, depends upon the best use made of these three factors. Man cannot change to any large degree the natural quantity of sunshine, air, and water, which is available to the open areas but he can use them or permit them to pass by unused. The best indication that these three factors are going to waste in an existing piece of woodland is that the crowns of the trees permit sunlight to reach the ground. If there are any such open spaces, some provision must be made to get trees growing there. Planting seeds or seedlings may be the simplest method. There should be a Sixty'four School of Horticulture The next important matter is to prevent the decay of humus and the loss of moisture because of an open border. If the trees are not close at the edge of the woods, or if the branches and shrubs do not completely close up the border, sun and wind cause the leaves and mulch to blow away and to decompose too rapidly, with the result that fertility and moisture are lost. Shrubs with flowers or bird food may be used for this purpose or several rows of evergreen seedlings may be planted in all the open places. It is not sufficient merely to keep the ground covered with trees to get a good crop of wood. What is wanted is a crop of good wood. A little observation on the part of the farmer will inform him as to what kind of tree or trees grow best in the locality and in situations similar to that on which his woodlot stands. In dry, sandy spots, pines grow much better than oak. tulip poplar, ash and so on. In rich, wet spots, the hardwoods grow better than the pines. Local observation should determine what trees to favor. Everyone knows that young trees grow more rapidly than very old trees and that straight sound trees are more valuable than crooked or defective trees. It is just good common sense, then, to cut out and use as completely as possible all dead trees, whether still standing or having fallen to the ground. Every farmer needs firewood and this kind should be used first. Then some trees look sick. Their leaves are not bright green and healthy like those of the other trees. They have small tops and are growing under the crowns of the bigger trees. These trees should be cut out. All trees with broken tops or with defects and crooks in the stem should be removed when needed. Every time a stick of wood is taken from the woodlot, the remaining trees have a better chance of producing good wood than before. Very old trees should not be kept except, perhaps, because of some sentiment attached to them. If the cutting can be done when seed of good trees is falling or has fallen on the area, the seeds will be pressed into the soil by the tramping of the horses as the logs are dragged out. If the open areas are large, planting is the better method. In some places the trees may stand too close to each other. They will be tall and thin. Some will be dead and others will have just a few branches at the very top. They need to be thinned out. The poorest should be removed. This condition is nature's method of crowding trees into rapid height growth. Since it excludes light from the lower branches, these soon die. Man can take advantage of these characteristics and produce tall, clean stemmed trees which will produce lumber without knots. The above are just a few ideas based upon information every farmer has if he stops to think and is determined to treat his woodlot crop as he treats every other crop. If he hesitates as to what to do, however, he can get help from the Farm Agent or the Department of Forestry at his State Capital. If there is no tree crop established on the farm the suggestions in the first part of this paper should be studied. Then seedlings should be planted. These may be purchased from commercial nurseries, obtained from the State Nurseries under the direction of the Department of Forestry, or raised at home. Hardwoods should be planted when 1 or 2 years old. Pines, spruces and larches should be about 6, 8 or 12 inches in height above ground. Do not plant seedlings that are too large. sufficient number planted to crowd the area. Nuts and acorns may be planted by using a cane to make a hole in the ground one to two inches deep. The seed is dropped into the hole and covered with dirt. Seedlings should be planted from three to five feet apart each way. In open fields the seedlings may be planted 4x4 feet, 5x5 feet or 6x6 feet. This Sixty-five W ise-oA cres will require 2723, 1742, or 1210 to an acre. My own recommendation is about 2700 to the acre. If some trees or good sprouts are present, then, of course, fewer seedlings are used. Usually no preparation is needed for planting forest tree seedlings. Plowing and harrowing may be done on smooth ground, but not on slopes. The rows may be scored out with the plow. The common practice is, however, to dig holes in sod, weeds, or bare soil with the mattock or grub-hoe to a depth of six inches and the width of the hoe, only. The tree should be set at the same depth it stood in the nursery; the roots, shortened by cutting to six inches, should be straight down and ground should be packed against them firmly. Here again if there is any hesitancy as to planting, advice should be obtained from the Farm Agent or the Department of Forestry. Plant trees and care for them. Grow more wood and use more of it. Use the trees but keep the forest. Make the farm more valuable and more attractive by having trees wherever there is room for them. Our airy Herd b the person to whom it was once said, Miss C, who, to look, at you, would dream that you had such a passion for cows! It is extraordinary what a deep bond of understanding and real affection can exist between a human being and an animal. Many people who have never had the privilege of becoming intimately acquainted with cows, who have never had the good fortune to form a real friendship with one, often labor under the delusion that they lack personality. They consider them dull and uninteresting. On the contrary, however, cow's possess an amazing amount of personality and are anything but dull. The owner or manager of a dairy herd will find life full of interest and ex-citement: a new calf born today, a championship to be won in the show ring tomor-row, a new official record completed bringing honor to the herd. The School of Horticulture herd has been built up from a very humble begin-ning and it now consists of five exceedingly good registered Jersey cows and two young Jersey heifers, one registered Ayrshire and one registered Holstein. Side by side in the stanchions stand three generations of a fine Jersey family to whom visitors to the herd are always personally introduced. Raleigh's Fairy Pet is the grandmother of the herd and a dignified, fine old lady she is. Several years ago when the School herd was entered in the Montgomery County Cow Testing Association, Raleigh's Fairy Pet headed the list of high butter fat producers for two consecutive months. This feat was accomplished on two milkings a day with ordinary farm care so it may be considered very much to the old lady's credit. Beside Pet stands her daughter, Martha, a cow of most excellent dairy type and a heavy producer. A well-known Jersey breeder happened to visit the School last spring a short time after Martha had freshened and when he had returned to his home in Florida he wrote back to the School, Don’t let anyone buy that Martha cow. She is too fine a foundation animal to sell. In all probability Martha will remain in the herd until the end of her days and she is already beginning to prove her worth as a foundation cow as the outstanding animal in the herd today is her beautiful two-year-old daughter, Fauvic's Fairy Fern. Fauvic's Fairy Fern was sired by Fauvic Fern Noble, a son of the famous Medal of Merit bull, Fauvic’s Prince, so on both sides of her family she has a fine heritage of type and production. Fern's first calf was born in March of this year. Fern is of excellent conformation, possesses a lot of real quality and gives every indication of being a high producer. Sixty'S'x School of Horticulture She has milked as much as thirty'five pounds a day on twice a day milking as a two'yearold and for the past three months she has been holding very steadily above the tour-gallon mark. In the autumn Fern and her delightful young sister, Fauvic Fern s Maid Marion will be entered in the Jersey Parish Show at Erdenheim and will be given an opportunity to prove their abilities in the show ring. Every attention has been paid to the health of the herd. It has been on the Government Accredited List for the past five years and it has passed an absolutely clean test for Contagious Abortion. As there are comparatively few herds in the country that have undergone this test for abortion it is quite an outstanding feature of the herd management. It is hoped that before many years have passed the cows will have a new dormitory in the form of an absolutely up-tO'date dairy barn. The architectural plans have already been drawn up and the proposed group of new farm buildings will be a most attractive feature of the place. Several very interesting opportunities have developed for graduates of the School in the field of dairying. Marguerite MacCreight had full charge of the dairy in the position which she held for so many years in Erlanger, North Carolina. It was to be sure, only one of her many activities. Gertrude Buckler has been Farm Manager for the past two years in an Industrail School in Virginia where she is building up a very excellent herd. Perhaps the most interesting venture of all however is that of Margaret England and Ruby Pannal on their farm in Cecil County, Maryland, where they are developing a very fine herd of registered Jer seys Another graduate held the position as State Dairy and Garden Specialist for the State of Florida under the United States Government Extension Service. So dairying is but another of the many interesting fields that are opening up for trained women. Sixty'seven Wise-oAcres The Need for Trees oAlong oAmerican Highways Frank A. Schrepfer At the present time America leads the world in total mileage of first-class, hard-surfaced roads. In the construction of these roads, however, the opportunity to secure beauty and greater convenience by planting trees along the road-side has not been utilized. The failure to take advantage of this opportunity is perhaps the most regrettable feature of the nation-wide “Good Roads movement. The subject of planting trees along our roads and highways has received much attention from clubs, editors, and publicists, but the sum total of accomplishments is so insignificant that one is scarcely justified in assuming that the subject is no longer of interest or importance. There have been numerous attempts to remedy conditions in restricted areas, but these efforts have been more generally unsuccessful than otherwise. Sporadic bursts of enthusiasm, setting out, indiscriminately, a few dozens of trees, and then forgetting about them, will not produce lasting results. Until the problem is attacked in a definite way, and adequate provisions are made for carrying out programs of at least a state-wide character, many thousands of miles of potentially delightful driving will continue to be dull, uninteresting, and wearisome. Sections which enjoy a comparatively heavy tree growth are usually accidentally provided with tree plantings simply because the engineers have not cut down all the trees within sight. The mutilation of existing trees by the road-side by public service and utility corporation employees, most frequently without a shadow of real necessity, is a serious menace in wooded districts. There is little hope of stirring public interest in a tree planting or tree preserving campaign where trees are abundant, if not always disposed and grouped to best advantage. On the other hand, in a typically treeless section such as in the prairie states, it is a simple matter to stir up interest in a tree planting campaign. In many instances large sums have been subscribed by citizens. The difficulty in such cases has been the failure to adequately plan out a reasonable system for the planting and subsequent care of trees. It is all very jolly to purchase from a local nurseryman a block of trees which are beginning to “run wild in the nursery rows. Then comes the great day when the local orator dons the frock coat, conjures up visions of future beauty, eloquently shouts the praises of “the far-sighted, public-spirited and beauty-loving citizenry of this thriving community, and hints at the linking of the rock-bound coasts of Maine and the sun-kissed shores of California by “this important link in our great national highway system, etc., etc. There are flags, cheers, hot-dogs, and political press-agenting. There are even a few dozen weedy trees and a few bank presidents or Rotary secretaries in startingly new overalls wielding shining new spades. But the shouting and the tumult die, and so, for the most part, do the trees. That the trees are living things, with definite requirements for their well-being, and that they require some small amount of care, never occurs to anyone. Compared with European roads, American roads are, for the most part, ugly and uninteresting. In America, the bill-board nuisance (now happily abating because of the refusal of many national advertisers to mar the landscape) for many years dotted the road-side with flaming posters, with their invitations to taste and to try. Our roads and highways were in a fair way of becoming “buy-ways.” Gasoline stations, refreshment stands, and roadside vegetable and fruit marketing stands are uglier by far than they need be, and it is cheering to find attempts being made to render these more or less necessary evils attractive. Vendors of necessities and indigestibles along highways would do well to note that travel is heavier and Sixty'eight School of Horticulture traffic moves more slowly, is therefore more readily attracted, along a welbplanted, interesting road. In Europe, the pedestrian or motorist usually finds the roads lined with many kinds of trees affording cooling shade, framing interesting views, and luring the traveler on with promises of greater beauty ahead. The poplardined roads of France and northern Italy, the unforgettable roads of Germany lined with apple, pear and peach trees in full bloom in the spring, and the ash, oak, and elnvlined roads of Eng' land are, for all their charm,, as convenient and useful as the American ribbon of concrete, and they add immeasurably to the enjoyment of travel. Failure to develop the potential beauty of our roadsides cannot be excused on a basis of prohibitive cost. The reports of the Lincoln Highway Commission show that it costs from ten thousand to sixty thousand dollars to construct one mile of a modern EXTREMES WHICH MEET Two sections of a national highway. concrete highway. An additional initial expenditure of five hundred dollars per mile for the purchase and planting of trees would add so much to the pleasure of travel along the highways that the money would seem to be of no importance. Again it must be repeated that the amount of money actually spent is of no significance unless there is a definite plan, for the after care as well as the initial selection and planting of trees. It is far better to plant fewer trees of the proper kind and then maintain them in a thrifty condition than to plant trees which are doomed to die for lack of intelligent care. Nor can the exigencies of climate or soil conditions be accounted sufficient excuse for neglect of the roadside. There arc few places, indeed, where some species or variety of tree cannot be made to grow. The choice of the right kind of tree for given con' ditions must be left to someone with proper training. There may be many trees which will thrive in a given locality or the choice may come down to two or even a single variety. As an example of what may be done, we may cite the case of the Sixty-ninc W ise-oA cres roadside planting of a highway in the plain of the great central valley of southern California. The highway which leads from Los Angeles to the cities of the San Joachim Valley traverses for about eighty miles the ridge of a mountain chain. This section is known as the Ridge Road. The mountain road descends sharply from the heights to the valley by a series of steep, winding curves known as the Grapevine. From the base of the Grapevine the road proceeds to Bakersfield, some thirty miles away, across a valley floor4 as level as a table. From the Grapevine, the road is a straight line passing into the hazy distance. During the summer or rainless months, this section is a vertiable oven, fanned by dry, hot winds. A more inhospitable or hopeless place for growing trees could hardly be imagined. It is not lack of fertility; it is a total lack, during the summer or growing months, of the life-giving water. The highway, however, is thd main route of travel from southern to central and eastern California, especially to the great national playgrounds of Yosemite and Sequoia. A peculiarity of the situation which impresses visitors in this section is that shade, however slight, provides instant relief from the heat. Deter-mined to make this highway as pleasant as possible, local authorities made plans for planting this discouraging piece of semi-desert. Trees were planted, poplars alternating with palms, jacarandas, and other trees. Eventually it will be a magnificent avenue of Washingtonia palms. In order to establish these trees, it was necessary to provide water. For some years a common sight on that stretch of highway has been the watercart traveling up and down the thirty miles of hot roadway, giving each tree, at regular intervals, its allottment of water. Already the signs of what is to be are unmistakable. Thrifty young palms, alternating with taller, but evidently unhappy poplars, provide a green note in a brown landscape. It is a courageous and expensive bit of roadside planting, but millions of travelers in the years to come will enjoy a most pleasurable trip along a, stately, palm-lined highway, across what is now a stretch of road over which most people prefer to travel at night, at least during the hot summer months. Our roads are rapidly becoming a means of educating our citizens to a wider concept of American national unity as they open up the entire region of the States to safe, rapid, and convenient travel. When we shall have added to these practical considerations, esthetic enjoyment, an opportunity to enjoy the varied form, color, and texture of the trees and shrub growths of the various sections of the country, our roads will pay even higher dividends. The sum total of returns on our national investment in good roads will be vastly increased when we have added pleasure to the convenience of travel. Happily, beauty as an end and not as an adjunct of some “practical'' consideration, is rapidly gaining in importance in the minds of our people. The need for beauty along our highways is evident. The simple expedient of planting trees along the low cost of planting and caring for trees under normal conditions invites the con-highways contributes largely to the attainment of this worthy end and the extremely sideration of those who are interested in the notion that the useful things in life may be made beautiful as well. Scvetit} School of Horticulture 'The %ock (garden Anne B. Wertsner OF ALL forms of cultivating flowers rock gardening is the most fascinating. Within a small space you may grow innumerable dainty plants, which would be swallowed up or would not thrive in the border -delicate Alpines, little creeping vines, cool mosses, rare orchids, and much of the minute and charming flora of the woods and mountains. With a little knowledge of placing stones, with some rock or Alpine plants, with good soil, and a little work and common sense, there is no reason why one who desires a rock garden cannot have one. This type seems to give more satisfaction than almost any other kind of garden because, after it is once established, it can be left alone. The lowliness of rock, gardens seems to add to its influence. They appeal to most of us as do living things lower than ourselves. What person wouldn't express some affection for a crippled child or injured dog?—and so, too, one cannot help feeling nearer to his garden and nature when surrounded by 'the bright, colorful faces of the low flowering plants. The diversity of color in these plants gives more satisfaction than does a whole field of the single-colored daisies or asters. The Alpine plants in Switzerland, Alpine being the term usually applied to plants of high altitudes, have a wide range of brilliant colors. Blue and yellow predominate, but purple, crimson, and white mingle. The true Alpines live above the limit of Fines, but are frequently found in lower regions along the course of a mountain stream. However, they .adapt themselves to various conditions. In choosing the site for the rock garden, it should be remembered that the plants like a clear, clean, open space, preferably a southeastern slope. Dense shade should be avoided, as most of the plants prefer sunny situations. Whether the site is naturally stony or constructed, it should never appear to be artificial. Water always enhances the beauty of a rock garden, and some plants thrive best at the edge of a stream or on moist stones. Before placing either stones or plants it is best to make a sketch of the garden with paths and the positions of the stones. At this time one must consider the fact that all plants do not thrive under the same conditions. Of course, one can give them all the same kind of soil and they may apparently grow well for a time, but eventually they will show the difference. Plants are living things, and if they are considered and treated so, they will react to all care and will generously pay for their place in the garden. This is one reward the careful gardener receives, and it is no wonder he watches and cares for his treasures. Therefore, when planning your rock garden make a sketch, outlining the planting plan in order that the proper soil can be placed during construction. In selecting rocks, use those that are common in your own vicinity if possible. Weather-beaten granite is the best material, and moss-covered stones from beds of streams are very desirable. The rocks should be placed to look as natural as possible. The strata should be kept in the same general plane, but it can be varied. If rocks were to break and fall from mountains they would not all land as they originally were, thus with the rock garden, vary them, but make them natural. They should be sunk a few inches in the ground, and packed with an abundance of good soil and loam mixed with sand and grit. Well-rotted manure makes a good base for the soil. Lime mortar is useful as grit and exceedingly beneficial, as most rock plants are lime loving. The soil should be deep as the plants will not flourish on a shallow Scvcnty'one Wise-oAcres one. When placing the rocks it is best to slope them toward the rear. This provides better drainage and prevents water from lodging on stones. However, there must be a good supply of water stored behind the rocks. After the construction, the final consideration is the selection and placing of the rock plants. This is important because there arc different types of plants, and one must consider just what is wanted: a carpet of bloom and a mass of foliage or specimen plants of height. Color is also an important consideration. A few of the most popular plants used for mass of bloom and foliage are: Stonecrops, especially Sedum acre, album, kamschaticum and sarmentosum; all varieties of Phlox subulata, also Phlox amoena and divaricata. Snow-in-Summer, Cerastium tomentosum, with its grayish green foliage and white flowers is excellent. Of the Pinks, Dianthus deltoides, speciosus, arenarius, and plumarius, are among the best rock-garden varieties. Then there is Rock cress, Aubrctia, with its lovely shades of pink and purplish flowers, Sandwort, Arenaria montana, which makes a glorious array of white flowers, Gypsophila repens, Asperula odorata, Arabis and Alyssum; the Thymes, including Thymus coccineum, and lanuginosus; also the Speedwells, Veronica repens, allioni, rupestris and incana, Saponaria, Iberis, Edelweiss, Helianthemum, and Achillea; the Bellflowers, Campanula rotundifolia, muralis and carpatica, the Saxifrages, Saxifraga decipiens rosea, lagayena and lingulata; and the Violas-Viola cornuta, pe-data and tricolor. These are all popular plants, and I doubt if there is a rock garden which does not possess at least five of those I have mentioned. There is also Iris cristata and many varieties of Iris pumila. Linum perenne and flavum are great favorites as are Anemone Pulsatilla, Aquilegia Canadensis and Primula auricula. The fleshy rosettes of the Sempervivums add interest in the dry sections of the garden, while Heuchera, Polemonium, Epimedium and Thalictrum form interest-ing groups in the shade. If there is water in any part of the garden, the Globe Flower, Trollius, and the Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris semperflorens) will add to the beauty and will thrive. Many of the Spring flowering bulbs—Narcissus minimus, bulbocodium and triandrus, Tulipa persica and clusiana, Scilla siberica, Crocus aucheri, Muscaria botryoides and Galanthus nivalis, are also used effectively as they all add beauty and color early in the season. There are numerous other rock plants, but it is impossible to mention all, and until one is acquainted or familiar with these which are most likely to be seen, it is wise not to attempt any others. Rock plants are propagated in several ways: by seed, cuttings, and division. Most varieties can be grown from seed, but this is a slower and more tedious method, although very fascinating. The seeds can be sown as soon as ripe, in well-drained seed pans filled with fine, gritty, or sandy soil. Water the soil before sowing seed, then sow and barely cover with finely sifted soil or preferably charcoal dust. Cover the pan with glass to prevent evaporation, and keep dark until seeds germinate, if possible. Some seeds are very slow to germinate and if another watering is needed, it is best to immerse the pan. Some seed is fairly quick to germinate—Arabis, Au-bretia, Alyssum, Arenaria and Pinks in about two weeks, while Aquilegia, Campanula, Gentians and Primulas sometimes take months. As soon as the seedlings have two leaves and are about an inch tall, they should be pricked out, or transplanted to a more substantial soil. This encourages fibrous root development, allows more air to enter, and prevents disease. While small, these plants are gems, and require careful attention which they fully repay later. An easier method of propagation is division. This is usually done in early spring or autumn. The large plant is lifted and carefully broken apart so each piece will have some root. It is not a difficult task and requires no skill. This Seventy-two School of Horticulture method is used for the Sedums, Campanulas, Sempcrvivums, Nepeta, Cerastium, Violas, etc. Cuttings are usually taken in the spring or after flowering. These should be inserted in sand, kept watered and shaded until rooted, then potted. They will be ready for planting out by fall. Iberis, Saponaria, and Helianthcmum are usually done in this way. After establishing the rock garden, it must be watched, weeded, and watered to prevent drought. An annual spring dressing of leaf mold, crushed rock, and sand will keep the plants in good condition and the roots cool. At this time all plants which might have been forced out of the ground by winter frosts should be replanted, and all dividing and transplanting should be done. Never allow the plants to so overrun the garden that the rocks cannot be seen. Aside from weeding and a thorough watering now and then during the dry summer days, nothing need be done until after the ground is frozen. Then a light covering of leaves or corn stalks will be sufficient protection for winter. Is it any wonder that the Alpine flowers excite the enthusiasm of all those who have been in Switzerland? Their beauty, the grandeur of their surroundings and their persistence in carrying out the “Struggle of Existence” theory by adapting themselves to many varied and adverse conditions, arouse one's keen enthusiasm and whole-hearted admiration. The Floral Shop Helen Tripner SINCE graduation, I have been employed in one of the leading floral shops in Philadelphia. I find the debutante season most interesting. I suppose because there are so many novelties and little, fussy things to be made up. We use the colonial dames a great deal. These are imported dolls dressed in different shades of silk which we decorate with fresh flowers. Only the very small flowers are used, such as violets, sweet peas, tiny roses and myosotis. Vanity bags, made of silk or ostrich feathers, are filled with beautiful corsages. Sometimes a cluster of flowers is placed on the side of a round or oval boudoir pillow. Dainty flowers such as cymbidium and cypri-pedium orchids, lilies of the valley, small rosebuds, and heather are used for these arrangements. The colonial bouquet is a quaint little thing which always appeals to the debutante. The bridal- bouquet which I consider most attractive is made up of lilies of the valley with a cluster of Mme. Dreux roses and cattleyas. Bridesmaids' bouquets are made to harmonize with the gown worn. For the new babies, we fill booties of crepe de chine with the smallest and daintiest flowers or sometimes a basket of flowers is sent to the mother with a smaller basket on the handle for the baby. At the moment, the shoulder corsage is very popular. Sweetheart and Mrs. Aaron Ward roses, violets, pansies, lilies of the valley, didiscus, and all of the orchids are used for these little nosegays. Seventy three W ise-oA cres Our Poultry J. T. Craven DURING the past year the poultry department has made several noteworthy improvements. Trap-nests have been installed for the pullets in an effort to establish a high-record flock, and the flock has been certified and blood-tested for White Diarrhea. Trapnesting was begun in August, and some of our birds show promising records. Our highest record to date is that of number 201, who began laying August the seventh at five and a half months, and has laid a steady average of four eggs a week since that date. There are a number of others which have steady laying ability also. The birds are trap-nested approximately every hour. The first time is about an hour after feeding in the morning, and the last at feeding time in the afternoon, the exact hour varying, of course, with the season. Flock certification and blood-testing for White Diarrhea are of considerable importance, and have been practised only a short time in Pennsylvania. Certification means that the flock has been culled by an expert from the State College, and that all birds which do not come up to the standard of the breed in conformation, coloring, feathering, et cetera, are thrown out. In blood-testing a sample of blood is taken from each of the birds. These samples are chemically tested for Bacillary White Diarrhea, and those which show reaction to the disease are removed from the flock. When a flock has passed two clean tests with no reactions it becomes an accredited flock. This is a great advantage when selling young stock. We had only twelve reactors out of three hundred and twenty-five birds in spite of the fact that we have had a great deal of trouble with White Diarrhea in past years. Bacillary White Diarrhea is one of the most troublesome of baby chick diseases, and is insidious, in that the germs are transmitted from infected hens through the egg and are, therefore, in the bodies of the chicks when they are born. The disease is spread to the other chicks through the droppings, and will soon wipe out an entire flock as it is nearly always fatal. While the blood-test is rather expensive it is the only way of determining which individuals are carriers, and these must be removed in order to clean up a flock. We have at present a flock of approximately two hundred layers, the greater part of which are Single Comb White Leghorns. We have also a few Barred Seventy-four School of Horticulture Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, White Wyandottes, and Light Brahmas, be cause it is necessary to keep these breeds for educational purposes. We are, however, most anxious to increase the laying to more profitable proportions. For these who are interested in feeding I give here a laying mash formula, from which our poultryman, Mr. Cobleigh, is hoping to see good results. 500 pounds Bran 500 pounds Middlings 500 pounds Corn meal (fine ground) 200 pounds Meat Scrap 200 pounds Fish Meal 100 pounds Linseed Oil Meal 100 pounds Alfalfa Leaf Meal 21 pounds Salt 5 Oystershell Meal 1( Cod liver Oil This mash contains a comparatively large proportion of Vitamin D which is supposed to have the same effect on the birds as direct sunlight. It is also claimed that the Alfalfa Leaf Meal will replace greens such as cabbage and sprouted oats. Our spring hatch has been as successful as can be expected under the circunv stances, and we are hoping to have a good flock of healthy pullets in the fall. Seventh-five Wise-oAcres Lupins Marion Peretti LUPINS belong to the legume family and there are both annual and perennial species. The pink, blue, and white spikes of pea-shaped flowers are very attractive. There is a blue perennial lupine (Lupinus Perenne), native to the sandy soils of Jersey and southward, which loves sunny, protected places on the border of woodlands. There are also many other native species throughout the States. Others are native to most of the European countries. An attempt was made to grow Lupinus Polyphyllus, which is the most com' monly used perennial Lupine for private gardens, last year, here at School. The result was anything but pleasing. The seeds germinated and the seedlings did very well in a compost of 3 loam, 1 sand and 1 leaf mold. However, when warm weather came and the seedlings were set out in the garden (the soil being a heavy loam containing very little humus) they made no progress whatever and finally all but two died. These two are doing quite well and give us reason to expect some lovely spikes of bloom this summer. A few seedlings were tried indoors and they bloomed very nicely during the late winter and early spring. This fact lead us to believe that the garden soil is at fault and this year we are carrying out experiments in order to determine their soil requirements for out-of'doors. Seeds of the perennial lupine, L. Polyphyllus, were sown on the sixteenth of March in ordinary flats in a 3 loam, 1 sand and 1 leaf mold compost. The seedlings were pricked out the seventh of May into much deeper flats in order to give the long, young roots enough space. The flats were then placed in cold frames to “harden them off. The seedlings set out in experimental plots the fourth week in May. One plot is to contain a bacterial culture obtained from Washington, D. C. This is for the nitro'fixing bacterial nodules on their roots, which have already begun to develop, but which may not find the kind of food essential to their growth in the garden. Another plot is to have plenty of humus added to it; a third is to have sand forked into it; a fourth is to have an addition of peat; and the fifth is to receive an application of farm yard manure. Three plots are to be fertilized with commercial fertilizer: one with acid phos-phate and one with sulphate of ammonia producing an acid condition in the soil by two different fertilizers; the third to have a neutral condition produced by treating wTith a mixture of 4'nitrogen, 8'acid phosphate and 6'potassium. Through these experiments we expect, by August, to be able to give definite information as to what soil conditions the Lupine prefers in this section. The annual Lupine was grown in the garden last year. The seeds were sown in the place where the plants were wanted and the seedlings thinned to a foot apart. The plants were staked when about twelve inches high and fed some nitrate of soda. They did not do very well as the rainy season caused mildew and we found it impossible to spray effectively between showers. Sevcnty'.six School of Horticulture Human Traits in Trees George B. Kaiser TREES have ever been intimately connected with man, and man from the earliest times has endowed them with human attributes. In Scandinavian mythology Odin created the first man from a twig of the sacred Ash, called Ygdrasil, which sprang from the soil, passed through the earth, and pierced the heavens with its branches, whose leaves were clouds and fruits the stars. The Greeks of old believed that a nymph resided in every tree. These hama-dryads were tutelary divinities, and a hurt to their trees was an injury inflicted on the wood nymphs themselves. Humans were often changed into trees, too, and we read of many such transformations in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Daphne, when pursued by Apollo, was turned into a Laurel to save her from the Sun gods too arduous pursuit, and ever after sacred to Phoe-bus, the leaves of that noble tree crowned the victors. Pyramus and Thisbe became the Mulberry and thenceforth it was their life blood that oozed from the purple fruit. Philemon and Baucis, in life faithful, after death as Oak and Linden intertwined their roots and branches side by side, and Atys, a follower of Cybcle, was metamorphosed into the Pine to roam thereafter in desolation on the Phrygian mount. The Hindoos lovingly care for a kind of banyan, for it is said that under this tree Gan-tama Buddha long meditated upon the vanity of existence and the mystery of life. Whether the mythology be Druidic, Teutonic, or aboriginal Indian in the Americas, there constantly recurs much tender intimacy between man and the trees. So it is not remarkable that we today find in our beloved trees many a characteristic in common with men. Almost everybody knows the lovely torm of the American Elm. In the earlier years of its life like a plume and later in its lines often resembling an Etruscan vase, particularly in New England where is abounds, this tree, in its beauty, distinctly suggests Gracefulness. Is not Dignity the crowning attribute of the Tulip tree? In lofty, clean cut trunk, in flowers, foliage, and fruit at once so evenly beautiful and circumspect, this native adornment of our woods might well be made the emblem of Pennsylvania, and surely there could be no more dignified arboreal representative of our State. The shade beneath the old Apple tree in the grassy orchard invites us in midsummer heat. While the droning of the bee lulls our siesta, we breathe a sigh of contentment and murmur that this, truly is Hospitality. Restfulness is well expressed by the Hemlock. Do you not feel the cool tranquillity of the Hemlock grove, deeply verdant and fragrant, away from the din an J cares of the busy world? It is good to seek the Hemlock when life seems awry and our fellow men are apt to act as goads and stings to our irritability. This way indeed lies relief. Sevenlysiven Wise-oAcres To many, the Lombardy Poplar awakens the thought of Aloofness, and the Pitch Pine, perched high on the stony hillside—again that wretched Atys metamor phosed, is an image of Barrenness and Desolation. Timidity is expressed by the quivering leaves of the Aspen, just as Fragrance emanates from the very name of Sweet Magnolia. The Weeping Willow, where the swain, in a familiar song, states his intention of hanging his harp, presents in its drooping branches an excellent symbol of Tearful' ness, while ideas of Mourning arc inevitably awakened by the Cypress and the Yew, so often found growing among the resting places of the dead. Is not the thought of death palpably present beside these dark columnar trees solemnly standing in those funereal places where the spirits of the departed may be wont to return? As for Eternity, the very odor of it is found in the Box, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes. That Frailty against which the Melancholy Dane inveighed in one of his solilo' quies is better expressed perhaps, by the cut'leaved Weeping Birch than by any other tree, and indeed Airiness and the Fanciful are inherent in all the Birches. We. may imagine the slender damsels created by Corot dancing beneath the Red or River Birch and Our Lady of the Forest, the Paper Birch of the north in her immaculate white robe of bark, might afford an admirable sanctuary for Innocence. The Beech expresses Tidiness. Symmetrical, clearly rounded, with well'groomcd foliage, it would be difficult to find a neater tree, while in antithesis, the Black Lo' cust in old age, with branches dead or broken here and there, may well stand for Untidiness and Decrepitude. Bareness? Is it not the Kentucky Coffee tree in winter? The Latin name mean' ing “naked branches is appropriate and the skeleton of Gymnocladus stands out' lined against the sky of December, bold and nude, except when holding the broad, brown pods which are borne only on the female tree. To represent Strength who would think of suggesting any tree other than the king of our north temperate forests, the Oak? Tbe woods of the Ash- -of many other trees, too, is durable, the Hickory tough—try to break off a branch and you will see! but for firmness, rugged' ness, downright strength, what tree can compare with the Oak, whether the species be White or Red or Black. Picture, if you please, the massive bole, the strong gnarled branches like brawny arms outstretched unfearing against a sky, perchance angry with storm— the durability of it, the majesty of it, the glory of it! So many Oaks we might together visit not far away, the White Oak of Salem Meeting House, of Crosswicks, of Mantua in New Jersey, and of Richardsmere at the edge of Maryland—before them all we might tarry and admire, and thrilling with memories of song and story clustered round this noble monarch, feels ourselves the better for the contemplation, with the desire to emulate, reveling in the expansion of our lungs, the distension of our muscles before this foremost human trait in trees, the trait of Strength-strength to live, strength to develop, strength to endure to the best of our ability, which in men as in trees, is of paramount importance if we wish to attain success. Seventy'eight School of Horticulture Iris Martha Chadwick and Helen Mowry A Brief Outline of the Varieties of Iris in General Cultivation A. Rootstock a rhizome I. Evansia (Crested) section; dwarf a. Iris cristata (native), flat pale lilac flowers on 3 inch stem. Early b. Iris tectorum, the Japanese roof iris II. Pogoniris (Bearded) section a. Dwarf 1. I. pumila, flowers, lilac, yellow, or blue, very short (M inches). Early 2. I. chamaeiris, single yellow brown veined flower (MO inches). Early 3. Hybrids between (1) and (2) in shades of blue, lavender, and yellow b. Tall 1. I. pallida, lavender blue flowers on 2-3 foot stem 2. I. plicata, flowers white, falls veined blue. Fragrant 3. I. flavescens, pale yellow, tall 4. I. florentina, white, veined lavender, V z feet. Fragrant. Early 5. I. germanica, several dark purple flowers with golden heard. 2o feet tall. Early 6. Hybrids between various members of this group. Most of the garden iris belong here 7. Hybrids between the dwarf (1) and (2) and tall (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) give intermediate iris III. Apogon (Beardless) section a. Dwarf 1. I. verna (native) violet. 6 inches tall b. Tall 1. I. longipetala (native) bright lilac, pale yellow veins. feet tall '2. I. siberica, several clusters of bright blue flowers. 2 i'l feet tall. Several varieties 3. I. pseudacorus, several clusters of bright yellow flowers. 2'3j 2 feet 4. I. versicolor, native blue flag 5. I. monnieri, several sessile clusters of bright lemon yellow flowers. 3'4 feet 6. I. orientalis (ochroleuca), large yellow and white flowers. 3 feet tall 7. I. laevigata, the “Japanese Iris. Purple or white. Many varieties 8. I. Kaempferi, almost identical with (7) 9. Hybrids between some members of this group. Ex. orientalis and siberica, laevigata and Kaempferi, etc. B. Rootstock a bulb I. Xiphium section a. Dwarf 1. I. reticulata, flowers purple and gold. Early b. Tall 1. I.xiphium, the “Spanish Iris. Violet purple 2. I. xiphoides, the “English Iris.” Dark violet purple Schedule of blooming season (from Farr) Dwarf Iris—Late April to Mid'May Intermediate Iris— Mid'May to June Scvcnty'nine Wise-oAcres Cristata Iris—Mid'May Oncocyclus Hybrids—Mid'May to June Tall Bearded Iris—Late May to Mid'June I. Pseudacorus—May and June Siberian Iris—May and June Japanese Iris—Late June to late July I. aurea—Late June and Mid'July I. versicolor—Late June to Mid'July otes on “Time of Planting Irises and Their Qeneral fn fare To tell the truth, most varieties of iris may be planted with impunity in either the spring or fall; the pogoniris like best to be planted just after they have ceased blooming, and the bulbous when they have died down. The more generally grown pogoniris are not at all particular as to soil. They dislike fresh measure. The rhizomes should be half covered. I. Monnieri, I siberica I. orientalis and I. Pseudacorus like to grow at the edges of a stream. These irises will also grow in the garden border. The Japanese irises will grow in the ordinary border, but they will grow to much greater size and beauty where water and manure are abundant. Of the bulbous irises, I. reticulata likes a peaty, sandy soil dry in summer with no manure; I. Xiphium prefers a moist position, and I. xiphoides likes a fairly dry one. (J. N. Gerard in C. of H.) All irises multiply quite rapidly making it necessary to divide them about every three years in order that the blooms be of the best size and quality. Irises are attacked commonly by iris rot and iris borer. The former is a quite serious bacterial disease and must be combated by cutting away the affected parts, readily detected by the offensive odor, and dipping the remaining good rhizome in a solution of potassium permanganate in water, pale violet in color. A dressing of acid phosphate may also prevent the disease spreading. Anything which causes weak' ening of the iris may induce rot. Winter heaving is an example. The iris borer is the larva of a moth which lays its eggs on the lower leaves in the fall. These eggs hatch in the spring and the larvae eat their ways down into the rihzome where they burrow. The plants, of course, rapidly become stunted and finally die. The pogoniris Eighty School of Horticulture sorts do not suffer from the borer, but I siberica and I. Pseudacorus among others are sometimes badly hurt. The larvae may be hand picked before they go down into the rhizomes or the plants may be lifted, the affected parts removed, the cuts treated as for rot, and the rhizomes replanted. It is apparent that Irises of different varieties are useful in various positions. The more showy ones and those that thrive in ordinary garden soil are very useful in the flower garden. I. Monnieri, I. siberica, I. orientalis, I. Kaempferi, and their varieties are indispensable in waterside plantings and bog gardens. Irises requiring special conditions and care and those which are delicate of flower and coloring are more at home in the rock garden, for example, I. cristata, I. pumila, I. verna. It is not desirable to use I. versicolor or I. Pseudacorus in the garden since they are much too weedy of growth. German Irises may be grown by themselves or in the border with other flowers. It may interest the grower to plant only shades of one color or he may like to use many colors cleverly mingled. It is generally more interesting and beautiful to have Other plants flowering with Irises. Delightful form and color combinations may be worked out. Mrs. Wilder, for instance, likes to use Dicentra, tall tulips of varb ous colors, Doronicum, Phlox divaricata, orange Gcums, Aubretia, white lupines and and Stachys in combination with her Irises. Miss Jekyll uses lupines, Spirea, flesh peony, Nepeta mussini, Rosa altaica, Solomon's Seal and Iberis. Mrs. King uses tulips, forget'me-nots, pansies, peonies. Although Irises are perfectly lovely alone, their shape and color fit them unusually well to occupying the center of interest in pictures with other plants of as distinctive form and color, it is as unusual in the vegetable as in the human world to find a plant which can be a member of a group as successfully as it is an individual. Eighty'one W ise-oA cres The ose (jarden Mildred B. Hubbard THE roses which are in common cultivation in this country may be divided into nine general classes based on their type of growth and bloom. Hybrid Perpetuals are vigorous growers, have dull green foliage and pink, white, and red flowers which are usually fragrant. The Tea roses have a spreading habit of growth. They have a longer period of bloom than the Hybrid Perpetuals and are less vigorous in growth. The foliage is smooth and the flowers are usually fragrant and may be found in all the rose colors. These roses are somewhat tender and therefore thrive best where the winters are not long and severe. The majority of our garden roses are Hybrid Teas. This rose is intermediate in type between the two classes just described, in both habit and foliage. They have a long period of bloom, are found in all the rose colors, and are usually fragrant. Polyanthas are dwarf and bloom freely. The flowers occur in small clusters at the tips of the shoots and are white, pink, or red. The roses described above are all used for bedding and cutting. The Crimson Rambler belongs to the true climbers. Most members of this group belong to the Multiflora class. The Wichurianas came originally from Japan. The type is small, white, and single, with numerous stamens. The leaves are small and glossy. It is evergreen in mild climates. Dorothy Perkins and Jersey Beauty were developed from a cross between the Wichuriana type and the Hybrid Teas. Members of this group are frequently used to cover unsightly banks as they can root at every joint. Rosa Rugosa is sometimes used for hedges although it is better used as a lawn specimen. Its large, red haws form an attractive decoration. The old-fashioned garden bush rose is a China rose. It is pink, semi-double, and a continuous bloomer. The Sweet Brier is a pretty rose which is frequently seen in the South but is too tender for our northern climate. Roses are propagated by seeds, layers, cuttings, buds, and grafts. Seeds are used only in obtaining new varieties. The climbers are usually propagated from hard-wood cuttings. The Wichurianas layer very easily. Budding is by far the most common method of propagation. Rosa multiflora and R. manetti are the stocks most commonly used. Teas are best grafted on wild rose stocks (R. odorata) as there is a tendency for them to lose their color on multiflora or manetti stock. The rose bed should be in an airy location and yet somewhat sheltered from high winds. If trees furnish this shelter they should be far enough from the bed so that their roots do not sap the fertility of the soil and so that they will not give too much shade as this makes the rose very susceptible to mildew. If the location is somewhat elevated there will be less danger of injury from late spring and early fall frosts. If the roses are to be used for cutting the bed should be located in a secluded place as the plants are not decorative. If, in such a bed, the roses are planted in rows, cultivation will be much simplified. Most roses thrive best in a deep loam containing a considerable amount of clay which has been composted with about one-sixth its volume of well-rotted cow manure. Some turfy loam may also be added when the bed is dug. The Teas and Eightytwo School of Horticulture Hybrid Teas prefer a slightly lighter and therefore warmer soil than do the Hybrid Perpetuals. Rosa Rugosa adapts itself to any soil. It is essential to have roses in a well-drained soil. It is not sufficient to merely drain the rose bed if it is in a water-logged section. A drainage system for the entire section should be installed in such a location. There are several general principles for adapting the various types of soil to a loam in which roses will grow. If the soil is very heavy, the ground should be plowed in the fall and allowed to lie fallow in the winter. If the soil is sandy or gravelly, a heavier loam should be added at the irate of two parts of the heavier to one of the lighter soil. Peaty soil may be improved by drainage and the addition of pulverized clay. After the soil has been modified, the bed should be dug to a depth of at least two feet. There was a time when spring was considered just as satisfactory a season to plant roses as fall. However, our best rose growers now insist that roses be planted in the fall. There are several important reasons for giving this season such a decided preference. In the first place, spring planted roses have been kept in the warehouse over winter and as a result do not make a strong, good growth the first season. Furthermore, if roses are planted in the spring it is essential to plant them before the delicate root hairs have begun to develop. Frequently it is impossible in our climate to thoroughly prepare the soil before the root hairs have begun to develop. If the plants are well protected after the ground freezes in the tall there is no reason why even the tenderest roses cannot winter over and then in the spring they will be ready to start new growth as soon as the weather is favorable. Planting should be done in October when the wood is fully matured and before the ground begins to freeze. Roses should be planted on a cloudy day to avoid drying out of soil and roots. Do not uncover the roots of the plant until you are ready to set them in the bed. Make the hole large enough to hold the roots when they are spread out straight and deep enough to bring the point of budding one or two inches below the surface. After the rose is set in position, fill the hole with soil, tread it firmly, being sure to get the soil well in among the roots, then water, and mulch. Roses which have been grown in the field for two years are far superior to plants which have not been in the field long enough to have their hardiness tested or pot-grown plants which are sure to have their roots matted. Rosa rugosa and the Austrian Copper should be planted three feet apart; Baby Rambler, two feet, and Hybrid rugosa, four, five, and six feet depending on the vigor of their growth. Hybrid Perpetuals and Chinas should be two to three feet apart. Teas, eighteen to thirty inches, and Hybrid Teas, eighteen to thirty-six inches. As soon as the ground freezes a heavy mulch of straw with or without manure may be placed about each plant to a depth of ten inches. As there is some danger from mice, in cold winters especially, it is best to bank with earth first. Teas, Hybrid Teas, and the more delicate climbers should be completely covered with straw. Climbers should be laid on the ground before covering. Standard roses, in the Northern States, should be dug up, placed in a straw-lined trench two feet deep, covered with six inches of soil, and topped with leaves. Hybrid Perpetuals ordinarily do not need protection. In April gradually remove the protection and in the case of standards, dig them up and replant. Hybrid Perpetuals, Teas, and Hybrid Teas arc best grown as bush plants. They should be pruned to from four to six buds each spring as the flowers come on current year's growth. All dead and weak growth should be cut out. Strong varieties ♦Mr. Nicholas, of the Research Department of the Coriard if Pyle Rose Company, strongly recommends that the hud be placed just at the surface of the ground. Eighty'thfec W tse-oA cres should be pruned less severely than weak varieties in order to encourage growth in the weak and restrain it in the strong. Hybrid Perpetuals, because of their more vigorous growth, should not be pruned as severely as Hybrid Teas. The pruning of climbing roses of the Multiflora type and of the Sweet Briers is done after flowering and is limited to the removal of weak grovth and the wood which has flowered unless it is desired to retain the fruit for winter effect in which case this is not cut out until spring. Ordinarily only the oldest canes are cut out in these varieties as there is little new growth from the roots. The Wichurianas are also pruned only after flowering. Weak growth and the older canes are removed in order to induce the production of strong new canes with many flower spurs. They may be thinned like Wichurianas or, if this is impossible, they should be cut back when they become too rampant. Trailing roses are rarely pruned owing to the difficulty of getting at them. The yellow and Scotch brier produce flowers on short shoots and are therefore not severely pruned. Rugosas should be lightly thinned out at the end of the winter, cutting out the old wood. Flower stalks, dead wood, and old wood should be removed from the Polyanthas. Cultivation should be started immediately after the mulch is removed in spring and should be continued regularly until six weeks before the dormant season begins. Cultivation should not be too deep in order to avoid injuring the roots. It is not a good practice to sow bedding flowers in a rose bed as their growth interferes with cultivation. Roses grown commercially or for cut flowers may be spaced for horse cultivation. An abundant supply of water is valuable in the garden as it keeps the foliage bright and retards the spread of insects. The water should be sprayed on them early on a bright morning. When there is not sufficient rainfall to keep the bed moist do not sprinkle the surface daily, but thoroughly soak the bed about once a week by laying the hose on the ground and allowing the water to flow among the plants until the soil is saturated to a depth of several inches. When cutting roses or removing faded flowers, if one or two outward pointing buds are left at the base of the stem more flowers will develop. Faded flowers should be cut, except where the fruit is desired, to encourage further flowering. The best fertilizer for roses is cow manure. It need not be well rotted as it is not a sufficiently active manure to do much injury. A top dressing of one bushel for one hundred square feet may be given in the fall. One-half as much soot which has been leached is a good addition to this dressing. Liquid manure should be applied as soon as the flower buds begin to form and weekly applications should be made until the end of the summer. Horse manure is not satisfactory for roses as it has too great heating effect. Chicken manure should be used very sparingly as it is very strong. Hog and sheep manure may also be used. Any manure used should be thoroughly broken up and mixed with the soil. Ground bone may be used if manure is not available. The beds should be dug and thinly covered with a mixture of fine bone meal, medium ground bone, and crushed ground bone. When this mixture has been forked in, the bed has been provided with fertilizer which is both permanently and immediately available. In late April or early May half a handful of 4-8-4 fertilizer should be applied to each plant and forked in. Unless there is a heavy rain soon after this application has been made the bed should be thoroughly watered with the hose. In early April and again in midsummer a cupful of air-slaked lime should be scattered around each plant and forked in. Hardwood ashes are even better than the lime and should take its place if available. There are quite a number of insects and diseases which attack the rose but only the more important will be considered here. Aphids or greenflies are small, slug- Eighty'four School of Horticulture gish, often wingless sucking insects which sometimes almost cover the bush. Black-Leaf 40 is a commercial nicotine solution which is entirely satisfactory in the control of aphids. Rose bug or chafer, a rather large, brown insect, which appears in June and early July and which eats the rose petals is only effectively controlled by hand-picking into a can of kerosene and water. Black-spot, a disease which is especially virulent on Hybrid Teas, Teas, and Hybrid Perpetuals, appears as a brown or black spot on the foliage. It first attacks the lower foliage and then gradually spreads over the entire plant and unless checked will seriously affect the growth and bloom. One should watch for its appearance at the close of the first blooming season in June. Mildew produces a grayish, crinkled appearance of the foliage and buds. Dorothy Perkins is especially susceptible to this disease. Its spread is favored by the lack of free air circulation and warm days followed by cold nights. Porno-dust, Massey dust, and Star dust are synonyms for a sulphur and arsenate of lead mixture in a nine to one ratio, discovered by Dr. Massey, of Cornell University, which will absolutely control the two diseases just discussed. It may be applied with a gun or bellows. Applications should begin in May as soon as the foliage has opened and should be repeated every ten days until mid-August or early September. It should be applied early in the morning when the foliage is moist and should be spread lightly and evenly over the entire plant. During the main blooming season withhold the dust for two weeks as it mars the appearance of the bloom. Since this dust is a preventative rather than a true control it is important to begin dusting before the disease gains headway. All diseased leaves should be burned. It is also a good practice to spray the ground in the early spring with a 1-8 lime-sulphur spray. Simple Methods of 'Determining the Productivity of Some (jarden Soils and Their oAdaptations R. G. Test The point has often been made that the subject of soils is to be considered as an important and necessary fundamental in the field of agriculture, but of such an abstract nature, that it is difficult to maintain interest and enthusiasm for its progressive research development. This is indeed unfortunate for the soil is the provider of all that is living; without it the universe would cease to exist. The importance of this fact is illustrated by the story of the Grecian runner who, being in competition for a race, the condition of which was that the first contestant to embrace his mother should be declared the winner, fell to his knees and kissed the earth, stating to the surprised governors that the earth was the mother of all. Again it is only too easy to permit the imagination to run riot in the study of bacteria and their habitat in the soil, acting, as the latter does, as their provider and protector. The soil is simplicity itself in that it is so tangible and yet it clasps firmly those units which, when liberated, cause problems so complex, that many are yet in the infancy of their solution. One of the first questions which we will consider is that of “soil susceptibility. Are we able to mould this medium to our desire and ideal and, if so, what are some of the phenomena which we cause? Suppose we select without regard to location several handfuls of soil, handle, and finger each. Some feel gritty, others slippery and moist. The colour in both types may be light, dark or blended. As these samples are brought in contact with the rays of the sun we note that Eighty'five W tse-oA cres the moisture departs, causing the grit to become loose and friable, the slippery mass hard and baked, while the color becomes dull. These activities are important when we consider that water is the main source of growth of all the living. In our plant kingdom it is our first consideration due to the fact that a plant is to a greater degree powerless to aid itself in procuring the necessary amount of water should that supply suddenly cease in that locality, than are other living things. Therefore, in order to provide a sufficient supply of moisture, care must be taken to give the plant a medium for growth which does supply sufficient moisture. At once the question is asked: Is it possible to control the water-holding function of the soil with irregular periods of rainfall; would not the plant suffer from extremes? It would, but for the fact that we can so affect the nature of the soil that the harmful effect of the intermittent rainfall is, we can not say totally abolished, but diminished to such a degree that it is negligible. So we come to the point where we examine our type of soil, taken from a spot upon which we have planned to pla u a certain type of growth, to determine the method by which a so-called unproductive soil may be converted into one which will grow all that we wish. Should the sample prove coarse in texture, gritty to the touch, the following is necessary: Any form of waste or manure which, upon decay, will cause the soil to adhede should be added. I like manure best as it also provides an important plant food, nitrogen, in a readily available form. The manure should be well rotted, that is, two years or more of age, in order that the tendency to produce weeds will be lessened. Manure which is well rotted will be quite friable, very few long pieces of straw being visible. Its application may be made to advantage in the spring before the plants are placed in the soil, or buds (of a large growth) tend to open. The results, which will follow upon the sandy soil are: the formation of a sponge-like mass capable of holding sufficient water for growth, and a stimulation of leaf and stem growth due to the addition of the plant food, nitrogen. The question is asked, “How much of this material must be added?' In as definite an answer as is possible, I would state: Add the material each year at the same period in quantities sufficient to cover the desired surface in a thin layer until the growth and color of the plant or tree throughout the season meet the ideal of the one concerned. Suppose, on the other hand, our soil sample to be of a baked nature upon drying. This would indicate a clay soil. Here lack of moisture is not important but the factor accelerating drainage is most essential and as an aid in simplifying our problem the same material which was used to cause the soil to adhede is again employed in order to enable the baked soil to crumble and become friable. Should the clay soil be great in depth, the addition of the manure to the surface clay would provide ample drainage in that depth necessary for the proper growth of small plants, and the larger growths would be aided in their yearly root development by the periodical applications already described. Again the amounts of manure to add must be determined by the colour and annual growth of the plant. Finally we have the problem of soil color which concerns us in that color is an indication of the amount of this agent called humus which causes our soils to perform as we would choose. All soils may be placed in gradation from black to white or from muck to shore sand. The darker the color, the higher the humus content thus giving greater water holding capacity and retaining other units which act as plant stimulants. If we have an excess of humus, the addition of small amounts of sand will serve to cause better drainage and give greater body to the soil. Should the black color be deficient, the growth of the plant will not be as vigorous. Here again the amount of correction corresponds to the ideal of the person concerned. Eighty'Six School of Horticulture Horticulture oA iProfitable Occupation for Women OFTEN visitors at Ambler remark: “Oh, everything is so beautiful here and I can see how your students would just love it, but do you find many opportunities for girls in this line of work? Because we wanted some tangible evidence to the effect that opportunities are not only numerous but varied and most attractive, we wrote to all our alumnae and asked them for information about their present activities. Four of our alumnae are consultant horticulturists. This is a big field which has just been opened and promises unlimited possibilities for the improvement of the small gardens of America. We have specialists in medicine, why should we not also have a person to whom we may take our garden troubles and from whom we may receive advice concerning our plant ailments? It is such information that consultant horticulturists have fitted themselves to give and, judging from the success of our Ambler graduates, it would seem that people do value expert advice in gardening as much as in other fields. Anne Hortense Knudsen is deeply engrossed in the poultry business. We quote: “My part of the work is feeding, care of the nests, spraying, grading, and candling eggs for a fancy market. Each year we have two thousand chicks of which I have the entire care. Sometimes people refer to Ajnblcr as “The Farm School. Although we prefer “The School of Horticulture, we are proud of the fact that girls can come here and learn to operate a general farm, and certainly some of our alumnae have proved that women can do so successfully. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt along this line has been made by Margaret England and Ruby Pannal. The school visited their place in Maryland last spring so we can speak enthusiastically from personal observa-tion. A quaint old farmhouse, furnished with antiques, overlooking the Sassafras River just one mile from Chesapeake Bay—this is the ideal location of their one hundred and twenty-five acre farm, twenty-five acres of which is woodland. One thousand apple trees, four acres of Pedigreed Mary Washington asparagus, fifteen Jersey cows, and four horses, the food for Which they raise themselves, make one feel that this is a real farm. “Tiny and Ruby raise Irish wolfhounds as a hobby. “Tiny told us the name of their kennel—“Dinn Righ, we decided it was, but not having a keen sense of Irish we may be wrong. Oh, yes! here is an invitation for all the alumnae from Ruby and “Tiny : “Any graduate who cares to drop in is very welcome any old day at all. From the cordial way they entertained us last year we know they mean it. Martha Twining is another of our general farmers. When we asked her what she considered her official position to be, she said, “Have none, I'm just a handy person on a general farm. We know she is a mighty capable “handy person and equal to the hardest work a farm can offer. Just at present Martha is particularly interested in her sheep—she has fourteen of them and a number of lambs. She also has ten pure bred Chester White pigs. Martha lives fairly close to the school and last year when Mr. Broughton was ill, Martha was kind enough to take complete charge of our dairy. Jane Righter has just set out one thousand small evergreens on her seven-and-a-half acre place near Greenwich, Connecticut. She is stocking her woods with wild flowers. We take it that Jane Righter and Mr. Schrefer (author of the article “The Need of Trees Along Our Highways ) feel the same about the treeless American highways. Jane is chairman of the committee to care for the roadside trees of the Greenwich Tree Association which has as its object the preservation of the historic elms and maples in the vicinity of Greenwich and the further noble objective of starting Eighty'seven OUR ALUMNAE Eighty'eight School of Horticulture public parks an«J other recreational centers. Dorothy Eastman is another of our alumnae interested in evergreen nurseries. She has one well started but is at present teaching Nature and allied subjects at the Hedley School at Glenside, Pennsylvania. Susan Reppard has bought a place ‘way down in Georgia. She is at present very much interested in Home Demonstration Clubs in the county in which Savannah is located but is planning eventually to specialize in plants grown from hardwood cuttings, such as azaleas and camellias. “In the spring of 1924, while a senior at Ambler, I saw a display of lilies by Mrs. Harold Pratt a 3 the New York Flower Show, that interested me intensely. 1 turned to Miss Seeman and said, ‘Some time I'm going to grow lilies.’ So said Julia Clark two years ago and now she is in Canby, Oregon, doing just that. She also raises rhubarb and melons (she tells us watching the patch at night is part of her work). During the winter she worked in one of the large “Gladiolus Gardens in Canby. Many of our graduates who have not taken up Horticulture as a life profession pursue it as a hobby. They teach Nature in girls' camps—some of them have a Girl Scout troop of their own. They have their home gardens, and are active mem-hers of Garden Clubs or similar organizations. We asked our married alumnae whether they feel that the time they spent at Ambler was wasted. To our surprise, we learned that over ninety per cent, of our married alumnae have married horticulturists and that most of them are in business partnership with their husbands! One is conducting a retail nursery of hardy perennials and ornamental shrubs; another writes that she and her husband have an acre truck garden and a small poultry plant from which they supply several small markets with vegetables, eggs, and broilers. Mrs. Ferguson and her husband have a farm on Long Island of one hundred and fifty-four acres which they are gradually bringing under cultivation. They ship early tomatoes which they’, grade and pack as “fancies. The rest of their products- -apples, peaches, corn, and melons are sold from a roadside stand, the great success of which Mrs. Ferguson explains in this way: “We pack honestly, arrange attractively, and keep things fresh. When we asked Mrs. Mulcahey whether she regretted taking the course at Ambler, she answered: “Certainly not. I had some of the most interesting and best times of my life at Ambler and found a higher proportion of congenial friends than at any other place. I think that the broadened outlook I received there has been of as much use to me as the B. S. I earned at college, perhaps more. Mrs. Wainhouse is one of the remaining ten per cent, who has not married a horticulturist. Her husband has just been awarded the Carnegie Fellowship in International Law and in late summer they will leave for Europe in order that he may continue his studies. While looking forward with pleasure to the life of a pro-fessor'd wife she nevertheless has not lost her love for landscape architecture and hopes sometime in the dim future to find leisure in which to return to this work. After corresponding with Ambler's sixty-five alumnae we feel that all of them would say with Mrs. Hilsee: “Such a unique experience as the course at the School of Horticulture is surely one of the high points in the life of a girl, regardless of whether she is still pursuing her horticultural activities, or has married and is engrossed with other responsibilities. Though entirely practical, the uplifting and inspirational appeal, which tho school offers to those who love plant life, has a far-reaching and lasting influence. Alumnae, we cannot close this column without a word of thanks to you. It has been a great pleasure to hear of your exploits, to realize, that Ambler alumnae are doing worth while things in Horticulture and in other fields. We send this to press with every wish for your continued success and a cordial invitation to come back to see us often. Eighty nine W ise-oA cres Our oAlumnae Bergen, Mrs. R. S. (Sara Reis) '18..............................Princes Bay, N. Y. Bloomfield, Lydia, 25 .............................................Winthrop, Mass. Booth, Barbara, '20—Nurse .............................................Philadelphia, Pa. Briggs, Mrs. M. E., 17 .........................................Pawtucket, R. I. Broadbent, Marjorie W., 20—Jobbing gardener.....................New Haven, Conn. Brooks, Louise H. .. Bush'Brown, Mrs. James, '16—Director, School of Horticulture............Ambler, Pa. Clark, Julia E., '24—Grower of lilies....................................Canby, Ore. Cloud, Dorothy M. P., 16—Contultant Horticulturist .........................Ardmore, Pa. Cloud, Katherine M. P., 16—Consultant Horticulturist........................Ardmore, Pa. Crellin, Elizabeth E., '20—Consultant Horticulturist..................Scranton, Pa. Cummings, Esther, '26—Greenhouse worker for commercial grower . .Ridgefield, Conn. Diehl, Mary Edith, '21—Consultant Horticulturist .......................Marion, Pa. Eastman, Dorothea, ’21 Horticulturist ................................Glenside, Pa. England, Margaret, 24 -Partner on a dairy and fruit farm ..........Earlevilie, Md. Exley, Emily, '15—Landscape designer..............................Philadelphia, Pa. Ferguson, Eleanor Fullerton, 21 “Partner of a fruit growing husband .Long Island Fogg, Sarah, 23 Home gardening .....................................Greensboro, Pa. Geiser, H. Irene, '22 Employee in State Forestry Department........Mifflinburg, Pa. George, Beatrice, 18—Landscape Architect ..........................Cleveland, Ohio Greathead, Adeline G., 16—Nurseryman ....................................Harrisburg, Pa. Hall, Elizabeth C., '24 Library Assistant .........................New York City Hammond, Eleanor, '25—Partner on general farm ..................E. Nashville, Tenn. Kennedy, Marie Ernst, 21 .........................................Philadelphia, Pa. Knudsen, Anne Hortense, ’ 18—Assistant on a poultry farm—Eagle Bridge, New York Legters, Alice I., '26— Gardener on the Harrison Estate, St. Davids....Wayne, Pa. Matthews, Elinor, 22—Owner of Perennial Nursery.................Clark's Green, Pa. McLean, Mrs. George, '23 .............................................Passaic, N. J. Meredith, Marion M., '18- Instructor in Horticulture, Lowthorpe ....Boston, Mass. Merryweather, Mary B., '20 ........................................Cleveland, Ohio Mulcahey, Eleanor L., '20........................................Mechanicsburg, Pa. Mulcahey, Mrs. R. G., (Alice Rhodes) 20 ................................Ottawa, 111. Newbold, Angela L., 16—Nurse ......................................Atlantic City, N. J. Pannal, Ruby, '24 Partner on dairy and fruit farm...................Earlevilie, Md. Pedigo, Elizabeth, '25—Occupational therapist ....................Philadelphia, Pa. Reppard, Susan S., '20— Floriculturist ...............................Savannah, Ga. Righter, Jane, '17—Home gardener ...............................Greenwich, Conn. Rogers, Irene Elizabeth, 26—Gardener, Samuel Bettle Estate.........Haverford, Pa. Schedin, Mrs. Elsie, '18—Owner and manager of a poultry farm . .. .Norristown, Pa. Shinn, Francis H., '15 ...........................................Philadelphia, Pa. Swing, Elizabeth R., '22—Owner commercial greenhouse ...................Coatesville, Pa. Taylor, Lucy Parke, '17—Owner, Boxwood Nursery .............................Rapidan, Va. Thurston, Amy R., '20-—Partner, Nicholson and Thurston Nurseries. .Litchfield, Conn. Torrens, M. Eloise, '23—Landscape Designer .....................Short Hills, N. J. Trimble, Margaret A., '20—Owner and manager of poultry farm.. Norristown, Pa. Tripner, Helen M., '25 Florist ...................................Philadelphia, Pa. Twining, Martha E., '23—Manager, general farm................Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Wainhouse, Katherine C. (Katherine Cohen), ' 17—Landscape Architect Cambridge, Mass. Williams, Beatrice, '18............................................Westfield, N. J. Willis, Mrs. Louis Byrd, 15 ............................................Orange, Va. Woodruff, Amy L., '17—Teacher .............................................Scranton, Pa. Yocum, Margaret, 24 ..................................................Orange, N. J. Ninety School of Horticulture qA School of Horticulture A MBLER! AMBLER!' For hours, it seemed, I hud been waiting for that call and at least six times before I had heard syllables twanged out in the dialect peculiar to train officials that to my over-anxious ear had sounded Ambler. But there was no mistaking it now. This was Ambler, and I looked out at a small town that by numerous signs and buildings proclaimed itself “the greatest asbestos manufacturing center in the world. It was a cold, drizzling day in March, a day that would make a factory town more drab than usual, and I longed to go on with the train, away from the town that was my destination. But I soon found myself on the edge of the seat of a jolting taxi bound for where? A school of horticulture for women “located in the heart of the beautiful farming country near Philadelphia a catalog had assured me as, several weeks before, I had sat reading in a home in the middle west. Was it a large school or was it very small? Was it beautiful? Would the faculty be likable? Were the students young or old? Would I like it or would I wish that 1 had stayed in that home in the middle west? Ahead of us were several buildings plain, white, stone buildings and a big, red barn. A picture in the catalog flashed through my mind. We turned into the lane and stopped. The driver let me out and left me—alone. There was not a sign of life about the place. I mustered up courage and approached a door marked “Office. I was ushered up two flights of stairs to a room at the end of the hall. We were followed by a fearful thumping on the stairs interspersed with much heavy breathing and “Must be made of solid lead!. . . .Jehosaphat, how much higher? and I gathered that my trunk was the object of these thrusts and felt tor it as tor an abused friend. After my trunk was deposited in my room they told me my roommate would not arrive until the next evening and left. The next morning was sunny and warm, a laughing, cheery herald of spring. After breakfast Marcie and Anchie asked me whether I would like to see their baby chicks. At the poultry house I was introduced to the marvels of incubation—tiny, fluffy black and white chicks that peeped and ran to the light when the door was opened. We excitedly counted the new ones. Some were just picking their way through the shell and we help them. We filled the lamps with kerosene, cleaned the wicks, and turned them up, recorded the temperatures, and left those dear little peep' ing things in the warm, darkened room. Some days later I came up here to watch Helen and Marcie in their study of the embryology of the chick. Each day eggs from the breeder house were cob lected and placed in the incubator and each night several eggs were opened and carefully examined. It was a thrilling night when we discovered in a three-day old egg a minute, white tongue that shot out from the surrounding yolk at regular intervals and realized that we were watching an embryonic heart. But I digress. From the poultry house we went to the barn where Mr. Broughton, the farmer, showed us the animals from three little tiger kittens and one yellow one, to Jack, that horse and mule combination with which every Ambler student becomes thoroughly acquainted in time. We were on our way to the greenhouses when the chapel bell rang. After a brief devotional service the new students were welcomed by Miss Carter in her delightful way. The first subject on my schedule was floriculture. I was impressed by the sound of the word. I knew we would do something with flowers and was thrilled linetyone 7-iinety'two School of Horticulture at the idea of working in a greenhouse. First, Miss Herring showed us through the houses. The ventilating and heating systems were explained to us. We learned how a bench is prepared for seed; how crops are arranged in the different houses according to the temperature required for their best growth; how plants are watered. It sounded very intricate and most fascinating. Then we were told the names of most of the plants and laboriously entered them in notebooks, carefully misspelled—Primula malacoides, Antirrhinum Mont Blanc, Arctotis grandis, Dimorphotheca Aurantica. 1 ended with much respect for the Romans and some regret that they left their language as a heritage to science. Streptosolon was one we struggled with manfully although Marie caught it at once I recall—but many weeks after I still cherished a vague memory of a long name with some slight resemblance to streptococci, a word 1 gathered from an acquaintance with a bacteriologist. At the Philadelphia flower show this year that plant was the chief feature of our display and I think the name was quite as much of a sensation as the beautiful, brilliant orange blossoms. Then we were told to “disbud snaps,” that delight of the beginner and bane of the initiated. At the time, our snapdragons were in the throes of an attack of rust. The flowers were covered with Bordeaux mixture. 1 had just completed a course in plant pathology before coming to Ambler and had little hope of the survival of these sorry looking specimens. However, in a few weeks the house was filled with perhaps the finest crop of snapdragons the school has yet produced tall, vigorous stalks over a yard in length topped by huge spikes of gorgeous, perfectly formed, yellow, pink, white, and soft flame colored blossoms. Perhaps this year we shall develop some of these lovely hybrids ourselves. At any rate the class in hybridization carefully crossed some of our stock several weeks ago and now the seeds are forming. While we were thus engaged the Seniors were busy in the potting shed, in the houses, and outside. Some were potting on, some pricking out, some making cuttings—all unknown operations to us at that time but soon familiar tasks. Two Seniors were watering in the houses. We found a list posted in the potting shed with each of our names coupled with that of a Senior for a week of greenhouse duty and learned that this meant that we should each have a week in the near future when the watering, ventilating, and cleaning of the houses should be in our charge. Again the bell rang—our first summons to dinner. It was such a noisy bell —it startled one—but it was most welcome, and we trooped over to the office building to glance at the front page of the Public Ledger for news of the world which is so near and yet seems so far to us in our rural seclusion. Miss Barber, with her usual thoughtfulness, had placed the new students at a table together. There was Spud at the head of the table. She had been doing occupational therapy work before coming to Ambler and is a mighty good sport as we found out later. Marie sat next to me. Our conversation was enlightening. I learned that she was Marie Rumpp from Germantown. Then we decided the food was very good and having dispensed with these weighty matters lapsed into silence. Frances Young was also a Germantown girl and a graduate of Swarth-more. We all liked her always. Christine was a charming girl from Indiana and a graduate of Ann Arbor. She could talk French better than a Frenchman and always had an amusing story for any occasion. Dougy came from Illinois. She left Northwestern to learn to be a florist. A plucky, good-natured, always ready-for-fun sort, is Dorothy. Drayton came later from Bermuda with the tang of the sea and sunny skies in a tropical clime, fresh memories. She is going back, she says, but intends to know all about carnations before she leaves us. y inety'thrcc W ise-oA cres In the afternoon Mr. Test gave us our first opportunity to make Jack's ac' quaintance. Bert assured us that licorice was the only sure way. Others advised apples and sugar. We first tried all the harness in the barn beginning with that belonging to Princess, Mr. Broughton's Percheron. We tried all possible combi' nations and orders of harnessing. We finally emerged, flushed and half'beaten, timidly leading a clumsy, brown specimen with a bridle quite awry at the front end and several unidentified straps trailing behind. Our next move, it appeared, was to in some way attach this specimen to a funny, two'wheeled cart. Jack does not back—certainly not for beginners, rarely for the more knowing. Again Bert sug' gested licorice. We scorned her suggestion and pushed. It was wasted effort. It was found much more practical and infinitely more simple to pull the wagon into the horse and we did. Then Jack wanted a drink and got one in spite of our opposition, for we at that time had some vague theory that water and work were not a good combination for horses. When we reached the orchard some of us pruned while the rest hauled the prunings away. It was just a bit cold but nevertheless thrilling to climb to the top of a peach or apple tree, prune back the topmost branches, open the center, and cut out crossing limbs. We felt scientific, we felt superior, and it was fun in spite of sawdust in one's eye, cold hands, and torn knickers. I have no doubt that dur' ing our first term at Ambler all of us learned how to prune fruit trees so we shall never forget. Some of us added to this experience during the past spring by pruiv ing on some of the farms in this section. Before the first week had passed we were introduced to Ambler's own parties —dress'Up affairs where one dresses up in anything that is available and suits one’s fancy. There was Betty dressed like a Fisk's Tire advertisement, “Time to Rc' tire; Bert, a negro hobo, unrecognizable in a bent'in hat and ragged pantaloons; Helen and Dougy inimitable Topsies; Pop, a staid clergyman; Till, a Scotch lassie, and Estelle, an enormous Nora, dressed in a relic of the fall auction, an annual Ambler affair at which everybody buys and sells what she does not want. Marie, who wore everything the cottage could supply in laundry materials, won the prize. In vegetable class each of us planned and took complete care of a plot eighteen by twenty'four feet. King had the cantaloupes that ripened first. Just when we had decided the harvest would be excellent, all mysteriously disappeared. Drayton had a garden with nothing but lettuce. She kept the school supplied for some months with all the varieties listed in the catalog. Helen sowed a border of chives which decided to specialize in quality with the result that only two plants came up and received the tender care they deserved. Christine worked next to the bees and eventually had to retire in their favor. Rabbits took a great liking to Dougy's beans so she transplanted lettuce to fill the gaps, much to the enjoyment of the rabbits. In fruit we learned the complete orchard schedule: pruning, spraying, culti' vating, thinning, cover cropping, picking, packing, and marketing. We learned to identify varieties. We grafted many of our apple trees. We learned to run the tractor. Spraying always brings forth a class that for variety in costume would make a mob scene in a movie: farmer lads, painters, mechanics, sailor boys, gypsies, and hoboes, all gather in the fruit shed to oil and grease the wagon, fill the tank with spray materials, and attach the horsepower. Then we move to the poultry house where the tank is filled with water and the engine is coaxed, worried, or forced into action, depending on its particular mood for the day. At first the spray nozzle was not under perfect control and many an inquiring eye was showered with lime sulphur but gradu' ally we became accustomed to the idea that even an apparently inactive nozzle should be handled with care. 7s[inety'four J inctyr.ftve School of Horticulture Perhaps none of us realized how fascinating a course in farm forestry could be until we met Mr. Wirt. Then suddenly the infant wood lot up near the bee house became the source of much study and discovery and Mr. Wilson's book on “The Romance of Our Trees became most absorbing. We learned how valuable timberland is and how much can be done to preserve it. We became ardent propagandists for the prevention of forest tires. Business Methods is a source of much valuable information even if, to the average woman, somewhat uninteresting. Teddy and I have been struggling with an inventory of the vegetables on the place and have tried to find room in our time book for the hours Till has spent in making of the two large vegetable gardens an ideal truck farm. We have learned the elements of banking, insurance, business law, real estate dealing, loans and mortgages, and marketing. In School Gardening we spent half of our time in discussing a syllabus for a three-year course in gardening suitable for children from eleven to fourteen years of age and the other half in practice teaching. Sue explained the marvels of the butterfly to us eleven-year-olds and when we had advanced to the ripe age of fourteen, Johnnie taught us how lettuce should be grown. So enthused have Mr. Schrefer's classes in landscape design become over his course that Wednesday nights find many a midnight candle burned to the quick while a painstaking Junior labors to make a thirty-foot plot look like an Italian garden. They started with the elements of design and were gradually led into landscape design, until now workable plans in color are produced. But during the process of development scarcely a Junior but found her cherished masterpiece torn to shattered bits while the mentor of landscape architecture held forth with witty flows of eloquence. The Seniors entered a competition for a garden and planting plan for Mrs. Charles Day’s place in Chestnut Hill. Anchie, with a skillfully executed plan which described an exquisite little garden, won the prize. In entomology Miss Herring gave a very thorough course in insect classification and during the second term we have spent much time in the field giving particular attention to the study of the life history and control of insects of economic importance to the horticulturist. Farm crops and farm animals, though almost entirely lecture courses, are intensely interesting to all students who choose these electives under Mrs. Bush-Brown. We were recently given the problem of planning a five-year rotation for a forty-acre dairy farm, stating the average yield per acre of each crop and the amount of surplus which could be sold. One reads of people that are walking encyclopedias. Such a man is Mr. Kaiser in the field of growing things. From the algae and mosses to trees and flowers, there is almost nothing in this section which he cannot identify. The woods, fields, and gardens about the school are class-rooms for his Botany classes while neighboring estates are visited by the class in Woody Ornamentals. Numerous trips are made by the student body each year. Each spring the Senior botany class visits a New Jersey swamp. This year all day trips were made to Dreer's Seed Company in Riverton, New Jersey; Echodale Nurseries in Norristown, and Florax's Rose House in North Wales. As we come in from these trips how different is the meaning of Ambler as it is called out by that same train official of a year ago- no longer a drab asbestos factory town but now a world of flowers and cool, fresh green, of birds and bees and friends that love these things of nature. Or, if night overtakes us, how beautiful and calm the great sweep of blue-black sky hung with tiny stars and a great, round moon. Even before we reach Campbell's there are the cheery lights of the cottage gleaming across the fields, and as we near the lane we count the lights in the dormitory; “Marcie is still up and Anne. Nancy has gone to bed. We must lock the door and go quietly. T inety'six J inety'seven The School of Horticulture for Women AMBLER, PENNA. COURSES IN Floriculture, Landscape Design, Botany, Poultry, Bees, Vegetable Gardening, Fruit Growing, Farm Animals, et cetera. TWO YEAR DIPLOMA COURSE SHORT SUMMER SESSION SPRING COURSE LECTURES For Catalogue, Address Mrs. Janies Bush-Brown. Director, Box E. Ambler. Pa. GARDEN DEPARTMENT FRUIT DEPARTMENT School of Horticulture Sch«x l of Horticulture Perennial Plants R. G. Test, Manager Annuals Cut Flowers Fresh Fruits in Season Strawberries, Peaches, Grapes. Apples Specialty Boxes of choice apples attractively packed POULTRY DEPARTMENT School of Horticulture O. E. Coblcigh, Manner FARM DEPARTMENT Certified and Blood-Tested Flock White School of Horticulture Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds. Ply- C. J. Broughton, Manager mouth Rocks. White Wyandottcs Certified Cockerels and Pullets for sale. Registered Jersey Herd Federal Accredited 1'linety'cight Eed K DISTINCTIVE Quality at RIGHT 1 CE|. Everythinc forGARDEN andLAWN CATALOG FREE- B MichellsI W RlftMARKETST r V IO PHILA r Linen Knickers and Jackets FOR THE OUTDOORS ALSO Topcoats Dresses Suits Hats IMPORTED FABRICS BEAUTL FULLY TAILORED ORIGINAL STYLES Mann Dilks 1102 Chestnut Street PHILADELPHIA Thor Bell Phone, Ambler 322'J Appliances Kensington 75 Henry C. Deens 8C Bro. Electrical Contractors 14 N. MAIN STREET AMBLER, PA. BRENNEMAN 3C BRADY, Inc. Pharmacists Ambler, Pa. Better Printing THE JOHNSON PRESS AMBLER. PA. Bell Phone Keystone Phone Try the Drug Store First Angeny’s, of Course Main and Butler Avenue Ambler. Pa. JULIA E. CLARK Grower of Lilies Route 2. Canby. Oregon Heiss’ Cash Department Store We Keep Everything 303-305 BUTLER AVENUE C. M. HEISS. Proprietor AMBLER. PA. S. C. WHITE LEGHORNS Day-Old Chicks. Breeding Cockerels and Pullets Custom Hatching HADDON POULTRY FARM Accredited Phone. Ambler 59-R Place Orders Early Winety'nine As Good As Good Looking. The Realization of Anticipation The rcx)f that will last your lifetime without paint or repairs can be secured if you use AMBLER ASBESTOS SHINGLES FIREPROOF WEATHERPROOF EVERLASTING Let us furnish an estimate without obligation ASBESTOS SHINGLE, SLATE SHEATHING CO- AMBLER, PENNSYLVANIA Branch offices and stock in all large cities __________________________________________________________ The Science and Practice Urban Land Valuation by WALTER W. POLLOCK President, The Manufacturers' Appraisal Company and KARL W. H. SCHOLZ, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Economics University of Pennsylvania Price, $5, Postpaid The Manufacturers’ Appraisal Co. 4021 Walnut Street Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A. Moon’s Hardy Plants for Every Place and Purpose A complete assortment of well-grown Evergreens, Trees, Roses, Vines and Perennials includ-ing many rare and unusual vari-eties. Truck delivery within a reason-able radius of our nurseries. Careful packing for freight and express shipments to distant points. Send for the 160th Anniversary Edition of our descriptive catalog. Free if you mention Wise-Acres. Moons ' Nurseries THE WM. K MOON CO MORRISVILLE PENNSYLVANIA which is mil from Trenton. MJ One hundred BELL PHONE. AMBLER 137 ESTABLISHED 1904 H. J. DAGER Real Estate INSURANCE—MORTGAGES 307 Butler Avenue Ambler, Pa. MEMBER OF PHILADELPHIA AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY REAL ESTATE BOARDS In Appreciation of the Patronage of the SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE for Women NICE 8C LYLE Hardware House furnishings Radio Electrical Supplies AMBLER, PA. Compliments of “NICE” Paints, Enamels, Varnishes, Stains, Lacquers EUGENE E. NICE COMPANY PHILADELPHIA Compliments of a Friend One hundred one Large Oaks from Official Photographers Little Acorns Qrow for Class of July, 1927 Just as a great tree grows from small seeds, so will a Bank Account grow from the first small deposit if properly nourished. Kubey-Rembrandt Make our Bank your orchard. Studios Start Planting FJow! 1732 CHESTNUT STREET PHILADELPHIA The First National Bank Phone Rittcnhousc 6256 AMBLER, PA. J. W. CRAFT SONS The Drug Store of Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Compelling Excellence Lumber, Coal, Grain, Feed, We possess every feature that enters in to make excellence Fertilizers, Plaster, The Quality The Service Cement, etc. For twenty Years AMBLER, PENNA. STILLWAGON’S 1907 1927 J. WALTER GREEN Chevrolet Motor Cars High Grade Coal Building Material—Hollywood Only Dealer in Ambler, Pa. Building Blocks Main St. (West of) Tennis Ave. WYLIE B. DAVID Phone. 121 Ambler, Pa. One hundred two GARDEN POTTERY From the shores of the Mediterranean, from the ovens of France and Italy come many of the exquisite bits of garden pottery on display at our Montgomery Avenue showrooms. The Barclay Company 732 Montgomery Avenue, Narberth Antiques Garden Furniture Pottery T ursery Stocl( Normandy Cats Trees and Shrubs ESTABLISHED 1866 Naperville Nurseries NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS Plant Material for Landscape, Horticultural and Forestry Projects CHOICE LINE OF STRONG PERENNIAL PLANTS, TREES, SHRUBS, VINES AND EVERGREENS Native Plant Material If you do not receive our catalogue, a card will bring it. Long Distance, Naperville N°• 1 Dorothy R. Bullitt, Inc. “Practical Clothes for the Particular Woman 20th and Sansom Streets PHILADELPHIA CHESTNUT HILL HAY HEAD. N. J. LANE’S NURSERIES GROWERS OF Hardy Plants and Flowers T rees, Shrubs, Evergreens and Fruit Trees in Assortment ON THE LIMEKILN PIKE AT DRESHER, PA. G.M.DECK6CO. John J. Linke Quality Market Prime Meats and Fancy Groceries, Fruits and Vegetables Imported and Domestic Cheese 483 Butler Ave. Ambler. Pa. GEORGE SPGHN Plumbing PROMPT AND RELIABLE SERVICE Ambler, Pennsylvania PRINTED BY CLARK PRINTING HOUSE. INC. PHILADELPHIA. PA.